#i think cats have been made deputy while in the process of mentoring an apprentice?

[felidthing]

redstar as leader is like realizing your teacher who everyone within a few years older than you has had and loved suddenly revealed he was deeply xenophobic and believed your country had to establish dominance over its neighbors to keep it safe

[cm8x-arts]

FD/GG Warriors AU- Arc 1

So I went ahead and wrote out a very abridged version of the First Arc of this Warriors Multi-AU I’ve been locked on to for like 24 hours. Here’s the key characters in this arc (All Guardian Ghost characters this time around), just quick enough to get an idea of who I’m talking about and how to visualize them in your heads. This is also bound to change if I ever elaborate on it but for now this is how the Warriors AU goes down for Arc 1

Lakeclan is the focus. It’s the end of a very dry winter, and they had a fire a month prior that ravaged their territories the most. (Forest and Swamp Clan getting moderately hit themselves). The previous leader of the clan died in the fire along with a handful of other cats, Rustclaw gaining his 9 lives pretty shortly afterward.

At the same time, a freshly apprenticed Twigpaw is sick and tired of the other apprentices treating him like garbage, and the older cats not seeming to notice or even care, and he doesn’t even want to see his mentor. He impulsively decides to go hunting on his own...and gets hit by a car.

He’s saved by Blazepelt, who Twigpaw thinks is a real cat until multiple cats explain that Blazepelt’s been dead since the fire. So now Twigpaw has a ghost following him around that only he can see and hear. Cool.

As he’s recovering, he finally gets to meet his mentor Rockpool, along with his sister Bramblelight. They both mention having seen Blazepelt while nearly drowning and nearly dying from food poisoning respectively. Now these 3 cats are the only ones who can see Blazepelt.

Meanwhile, Gorsefur, the medicine cat, gets a vision.

He sees a cat made of twigs, bathed in a blue light, with glowing green eyes. A cat of flames, water, and brambles behind them. The twig cat has a broken rusted star in their paws

Gorsefur fails to mention this to Ruststar until it’s forced out.

Other bits

Ruststar has the unique ability of biting other cats and said cats basically becoming zombies that follow him like a hivemind, losing fur color and eyes changing red in the process 

He’s absolutely been pulling strings behind the scenes to take the leadership position, but is such a smooth talker that no one really questions it

The M4 (Blazepelt in particular) are pretty suspicious of Ruststar, but try and go through clan life as normal while keeping a very close eye on him

Blazepelt casually mentions that Ruststar let him die in the fire after witnessing their previous leader get murdered.

The clan itself works okay but holy moley they’re kinda territory hungry aren’t they??

Ruststar eventually catches on to the fact that he’s meant to die by the hands of a cat made of...branches? Brambles?? He’s not entirely clear. But Bramblelight matches his initial picture of the cat in question. He sends some of his minions to kill her off and then freak out over “rouges” later

He keeps bringing in more when Bramblelight and Rockpool prove to be a formidable force against these guys.

Twigpaw even starts getting targeted by “rouge” attacks by proxy, Blazepelt being a huge help in fighting them off.

Rockpool and Bramblelight still die before Twigpaw even gets his Warrior name. It’s not great. Rockpool got bitten by Ruststar and Bramblelight pulled a sacrifice play before mercy-killing Rockpool herself, dying on the ground before anyone else could get over and help her.

Meanwhile, Jaypaw (Blazepelt’s younger brother) and Amberpaw (Annie) become apprentices and help Twigpaw and Blazepelt uncover Ruststar’s secrets and get him kicked out. But before they can do so, Ruststar declares war on all the other clans, claiming everything for himself and his (by now) massive army of his hivemind zombie cats. 

All hell breaks loose as all the clan cats square off against Ruststar and his massive self made army. Twigpaw is killed during the final battle, but Blazepelt uses the last of his energy to shove Twigpaw’s soul back into his body so Twigpaw can deal the final blow against Ruststar.

EPILOGUE

Twigpaw, now Twigtail, has finally recovered from the big battle. Everything settled down and the clans are at peace because they all had some pretty severe losses and need time to recover. He was given his Warrior name after he woke up the first time, ignoring the vigil part considering how crazy his injuries were. It took a few months but at last he was able to help his clan again, and another few before he got an apprentice, Flarepaw. (Conveniently enough, Blazepelt’s reincarnated soul is in there, neat). Amberpelt and Jaysight had kittens of their own, Rockkit and Bramblekit (named after Rockpool and Bramblelight, they aren’t reincarnations though)

The epilogue cuts right to Twigtail training Flarepaw, when the current leader of Lake Clan wants Twigtail to be their deputy once Flarepaw is a proper Warrior, the current Deputy was a temporary placeholder and both agreed that Twigtail would be a perfect fit. Twigtail is reluctant but with a push from Flarepaw, accepts the offer.

This first series ends with Twigtail looking at the sky, sad for the death of his friends, but looking forward to the future, for once.

[canon-notcanon-warriorcats]

This started as an au idea but it became an outline for a Po3 and OotS rewrite by accident lmao

Au where Ferncloud and by extension, Ashfur, know Leafpool’s secret from the start. Ferncloud gets in on helping Leafpool, because she knows a pregnant cat when she sees one. She’s pretty close with her brother and as such privately confides in him what’s going on. It pisses him off that squirrel is happily living a lie, but out of respect for his sister, he keeps the secret. The tipping point is getting Lionpaw as an apprentice, refreshing the subject in his mind… And being visited by Hawkfrost, whispering sweet nothings of satisfied spite.

It does work, although it takes a fair bit longer to convince Ashfur to go against his sister’s wishes than to aid in the taking of one of Firestar’s lives took. Ashfur invites his sister to go walking with him, and tries to convince her of the need for the secret to be out. The conversation sours dramatically and by the time the return to camp, Ferncloud is distraught and enraged, and Ash has a fresh clawmark in his cheek. Not long after this, comes the scene where he fights too rough with Lionpaw.

As he sees it, having to keep these secrets has been a knife in the chest for all this time, and he starts to just get… angrier. He takes out his anger on Lionpaw, he snaps back at well meaning concerns. Firestar’s mistake is in misreading the warning signs as him lashing out over his falling out with his sister, and so doesn’t reassign Lionpaw and tries instead to help them reconcile while not knowing what their fallout was over, although still punishing him when he’s caught being ornery of course. But his efforts only make things worse.

Hollypaw and Jaypaw, both warrior apprentices because I say so, see that Lion doesn’t have a normal relationship with his mentor, and start to question what his beef is with their family, Jay even trying to prod Ferncloud’s dreams over it, but even in her dreams Ferncloud won’t dare tell even what she thinks is a fake dream version of Jay what Ash’s problem is. Holly and Jay try what they can to convince Lion that Ash is not a normal mentor, but Lion figures he’s just going hard on him because he sees his potential, in much the same way the dark forest cats have convinced him of the same while he trains there.

The three, at the request of Squirrelflight, are named Hollyleaf, Jaythorn, and and Lionfern, for Leafpool, Brambleclaw (abstractly), and Ferncloud.

Ashfur turns to whom he sees as his last resort: brambleclaw, as they were friends once, and he thinks that Bramble of all cats would be interested in knowing his mate has been lying to him this long. Bramble… isn’t angry. He’s just… upset that she hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him the truth. Ashfur is confused and pissed. And this reveal happens right before the fire scene. Both rush back to camp with intent to help.

The fire plays out similarly to canon, where Ash sees his opportunity and takes it, amid the heightened emotions of the aborted argument and panic of the blaze. Lion sees Ash for what he is, Holly and Jay see the truth.

From that point on, things play out similarly to canon, but when Lion kills someone (probably not russetfur just because I’m a Russetstar fan, probably like, oakfur bc he sucks and was a jackass about Jay being blind, so it makes sense that Lion might get Too Pissed and kill him in the process,) and stops training with the dark forest, he asks to become a medicine cat, choosing to use his powers to essentially, become an unkillable doctor, making him an essential asset in the fight against the dark forest as even dark forest cats who would stoop to killing a medicine cat to prevent their opponents treatment, Can’t Touch Lion.

Dovewing serves as a remote scout, and her hyper awareness combined with Ivypools gathered intelligence saves a lot of lives. Dovewings alerts send Cinderheart and Icecloud to save their moms, and sends Leafpool and Squirrelflight to save they’re dad… Although they’re too late. Her perceived failure to save Firestar’s last life is ultimately one of many motivators that lead to her decision to leave the clans.

Holly still doesn’t have powers, but is an essential asset in the final battle, and also doesn’t die, becoming leader after brambleclaw sacrifices himself facing the ghost of Ashfur to save her, whom went to the dark forest, bc I mean it’s only logical really as accomplice to murder and intent to murder are among his sins, brambleclaw naming hollyleaf his deputy at his dying breath, having not yet received his nine lives.

Nightcloud kicks Breezepelt’s butt, (whom is fighting with the dark forest still not cuz he wants to like in canon, but because somewhere along the line he started getting cold feet, but he’s become convinced that he has to be on the winning side or everyone he cares about will die. His dad issues were how they got him, fear was how they kept him. I changed his motives and a bit of his actions to make his redemption post final battle feel more believable,) and sends him running home instead of crowfeather bc as much as Crow’s super edition made me like him more it didn’t make him sending breeze running in the battle feel any more satisfying. It should be someone who breeze actually respects at the time doing it lol

And that concludes what I have written lmao

---

this is so good, these are such small changes but make the story so much better and make more sense

[need1etail]

Needlestrike AU Continued

If you haven’t my Medicine Cat Needlestrike AU, you can read it here.

Okay, I’m finally continuing this! After Needlepaw is named Needlestrike, she’s immediately thrust into ShadowClan’s unknown sickness. She tries her best to heal as many cats as she can, afraid to ask another Clan for help. She wishes she could ask Alderpaw, but after moons of tension between the Clans, she’s afraid she can’t. The sickness is the only thing in the way of Rowanstar waging war on ThunderClan for the kits.

After a half moon, she realizes she can’t heal the Clan alone. She goes to the Moonpool alone and asks StarClan for an apprentice. But, StarClan is silent. She decides to choose a cat on her own, and finally decides on one, a young ‘paw who always showed interest in her herbs and way of life, Puddlepaw. She returns to ShadowClan and tells Rowanstar she dreamed of him at the Moonpool. Puddlepaw is happy to train under Needlestrike.

But even with two medicine cats, they cannot figure out what the illness is nor how to treat it. It isn’t until Puddlepaw is visited by Littlecloud, who tells him that it’s yellowcough and about the lungwort on WindClan territory. They ask Onestar to give them the herb, but, knowing his Clan was facing the same illness, Onestar denies to help them.

Around this time, Darktail’s rogues are pushing into ShadowClan and ThunderClan territory, threatening both Clans with their violence. Needlestrike, frightened for Alderpaw and the kits’ lives, goes to ThunderClan to make sure they’re okay. She’s tired and scared that half of her Clan will be killed to the sickness and rogues. She asks Alderpaw to leave with her. Alderpaw is shocked, telling her that she has an apprentice and a Clan to look after and that Violetkit and Twigkit would be heartbroken if they had to leave Lilyheart and the kits. Needlestrike is furious, telling him they could leave the drama of the Clans behind and give Twig and Violet better lives, but Alderpaw stands his ground, refusing to go with her.

Unwilling to leave the Clans without Alderpaw and the kits, Needlestrike returns to ShadowClan. When she returns to camp, she sees Darktail and two or three of his rogues. Darktail tells Rowanstar that if he lets him and his rogues join ShadowClan, he will help them get the lungwort from WindClan through claws, not words. Needlestrike agrees with this idea, knowing how many rogues Darktail has from her journey with Alderpaw. Rowanstar denies his offer, telling him he’d never accept help from rogues. Needlestrike, now furious with her leader, tells him their sick could be healed if he accepts help from Darktail. But Rowanstar is persistent. Needlestrike tries to convince the warriors to help her sway Rowanstar in the right direction, but they agree with him, reminding her of Sol.

Needlestrike and most of the apprentices decide that their Clan is full of cowards, and leave to join Darktail’s group. Puddlepaw is left without a mentor, and RiverClan refuses to give up their medicine cats to train him, as they are dealing with yellowcough themselves.

After about a moon, Needlestrike learns that Rowanstar finally sent his cats to attack ThunderClan, losing almost half of his Clan members. Needlestrike decides she’s had enough of the kit drama, and convinces young Violetpaw to join her and the Kin, telling her that she has so much potential that Darktail can help bring out of her. Violetpaw joins Needlestrike and the Kin, gaining her name, Violetstorm, after her time in ThunderClan.

A couple of moons pass, and more ShadowClan warriors have joined Darktail’s Kin. Needlestrike has met a lovely she-cat, Rain, and fell in love. But, the sickness has now fully infected the Kin, picking off warriors and rogues one by one. Darktail decides it’s time to attack WindClan, but Rain speaks up, telling him they should just sneak onto their territory and steal the lungwort. Darktail is angry, telling Rain that WindClan has forsaken ShadowClan and the Warrior code, which states that they needed to help them in their time of need and that they should be punished for it. Rain gets angry, telling him that half of their cats are sick and that they can’t risk their lives. Darktail attacks and kills Rain. Needlestrike, trying to protect her mate, gets in the middle of the fray, losing her eye in the process.

Darktail sends his “Kin” and himself to attack WindClan, bringing along plenty of sick cats as well. Needlestrike refuses to go, still grieving over the loss of her dear mate. After the battle, Needlestrike learns that Darktail killed Onestar and Harespring and that many ShadowClan turned Kin cats were killed, including her dear friends Beenose and Strikestone. Needlestrike loses plenty of sleep and can’t bring herself to eat as she tries her best to heal as many of her Clanmates as she can, giving her own prey up to the sick and injured. Deciding that they never should have joined the Kin, Needlestrike and Violetstorm construct a plan to get away form Darktail and his rogues. Violetstorm does the whole poppy seeds in the prey thing, but are found out by Sleekwhisker. Needlestrike is horrified to find that her friend still trusts Darktail. Violetstorm denies that Needlestrike was part of her plan to leave.

Violetstorm and Needlestrike are dragged to the lake, knowing they are going to be executed. Needlestrike is weak and starving, and Violetstorm is still too young to take on so many cats. Darktail tells Needlestrike to prove her loyalty and that she wasn’t part of Violetstorm’s plan by killing Violet. Needlestrike isn’t able to bring herself to attack Violetstorm. Darktail tells Raven, Roach, and Sleekwhisker to attack Violetstorm and Needlestrike, but are unable to get their claws on them when Puddlepaw, now Puddlenose after his dead mother, Berryheart, and Dawnpelt burst out of the bushes and attack the three rogues, ordering Needlestrike and Violetstorm to escape.

They get away as fast as they can, leaving the Clan territory, chased by Roach. Once Roach gives up, Needlestrike and Violetstorm stay in a a small hollow they found, Violet coaxing Needle to regain her strength and eat. Needlestrike’s wounds have gotten infected, but is too delirious to help Violetstorm find the right herbs that can help her.. Then they meet two young loners, Zelda, a kittypet turned loner, and Tree, a cat who lost his mother during a storm at a young age. Tree still has his abilities to see dead cats, and Zelda has a vast knowledge of medicine herbs from travelling for so long.

After Needlestrike heals and gains her strength back, both her and Violetstorm decide to return to the Clans to help fight against Darktail. Only to learn that Darktail was killed by Heathertail, who was chosen by Kestrelflight to be the new WindClan leader, now Heatherstar. The Kin disbanded, SkyClan returned home, Alderpaw is now Alderheart, and young Twigpaw has been named early for her bravery in battle, now Twigshine, after her mother, Pebbleshine. Alderheart and Twigshine are ecstatic to find out that Needlestrike and Violetstorm are alive and well. Violetstorm has taken a liking to both Zelda and Tree, and they all join Needlestrike in ShadowClan, where Tawnypelt is now leader, Tawnystar. She took in a few rogues to rebuild her Clan. Needlestrike is happy to hear that one of her close friends, Cloverfoot, has become deputy of ShadowClan, though she hasn’t had an apprentice, she was the only young, healthy candidate. RiverClan also has a new leader, Reedstar, after Mistystar passed away due to the yellowcough. His deputy is Minnowtail.

Needlestrike finally reunites with Alderheart, who seems a bit uncomfortable with her. He tells her it wasn’t fair to him or Twigshine when she just ran off with Violetstorm one night. Needlestrike apologizes to him, telling him that she wasn’t thinking straight. Alderheart seems sympathetic toward her. He forgives her, and they go their separate ways. Tawnystar gladly takes Needlestrike back as her medicine cat, and she’s happy to be working alongside Puddlenose again.

Violetstorm, Tree, and Zelda become mates after a while, and Twigshine takes a liking to Reedpaw. Reedpaw joins ThunderClan with Twigshine, gaining her name, Reedclaw.

The Clans immediately made room for SkyClan instead of being jerks like in Raging Storm.

I think that Sleekwhisker and Juniperclaw would be the villian after Darktail in this AU? Sleekwhisker is a rogue now, but Juniper is now back in ShadowClan. They try to take down ShadowClan again while Alderheart is there helping Needlestrike heal Puddlenose after the whole silverthorn incident. They still poison them by you know stealing the deathberry seeds and sneaking it into their prey when no one’s looking. And then Needlestrike kicks their asses.

This was A LOT longer than I wanted it to be, but whatever you know. I may make some tweaks to it, but I dunno I’m pretty happy with it. I just realized that Sparkpelt was like completely irrelevant in this AU. Maybe she helps Sleek and Juniper in their scheme to kill of ShadowClan and SkyClan?

[fan-clan-fun]

So you want to build a clan? Chapter 6, Culture Part 2: Ceremonies

Okay so originally this was supposed to be ceremonies AND holidays, but then it got really long, so I'm just splitting it up.

With the religion part out of the way we can discuss another major part of your clans culture, ceremonies and holidays.

As I have mentioned on the blog before, I think that personalized holidays and ceremonies would do great deal to improve Canon and make each clan unique.

We already see a little bit of that in how River clan sometimes calls their cats to meeting, “Let all cats old enough to swim gather…” but there is so much more to work with. So let's talk about Ceremonies and holidays.

Ceremonies

In any clan, naming and aging ceremonies are absolutely vital to both clan culture but also clan development. Whenever (and how) each ceremony was created and implemented show how each clan came to be as one. Each ceremony is a sign of respect and growth in the clan, and is intrinsically connected with naming and how it came to be as well.

So let's start with the possible ceremonies a clan may have.

Birth/naming Ceremony-- something curiously missing from Canon is any line of birth or naming ceremony. Of course the kits wouldn't remember but a ceremony celebrating the birth of kits in the clan would help improve morale and follow with the pattern of all the other ceremonies.

When it is held depends on the clan and the level of realism of the story. The wise approach would be to do it while the kits are still young but not too young that they might die. For my clans this is usually between 4 and 6 weeks, depending on if they follow the schedule of the moon. Usually this means that kits who are sickly will probably have died already, so that the clan will be less likely to have to collectively mourn a kit who has been named before the clan. The mother may have named the kits beforehand, but only she and the other queens (and perhaps the father/partner if they are close) will know the names.

Naming ceremonies are about presenting new members to the clan. At this point whoever is naming the kits (be it the traditional mother or another cat such as the elder, leader, oredicine cat) would reveal their names. It would be good to have the kits participate in some kind of ritual that cements them to the clan. In my water clan, they take their “first water steps.” The young kits are held above the water, and if the instinctively paddle it is considered a sign of health and strength in the kit as well as an indication of good clan blood. Other clan might have different approaches. Another clan of mine rubs the heads or their kits with dust and herbs, connecting them with the earth which is so important to the clan, as well as the herbs which are a hope of health and endurance for the kit.

The ceremony should definitely be deeply tied to the clans values and what they consider important, because it the very first ceremony they will ever participate in.

Apprentice Ceremony-- the first Canon ceremony I'm a cat's life, this is when they pass from being a kit to an apprentice. In Canon it's a simple process: the leader acknowledges the kits age and personality, and then calls forward the mentor that they have chosen, and they touch noses.

These are the bare bones of the ceremony, but it might be interesting for your own clans if you made it more personal.

For example, let's say that for the first few moons of apprenticeship that all of the younger cats are trained as a group. Instead of assigning a mentor at that stage, one clan has the apprentices called forward and named and then an elder agrees to sponsor each apprentice, or if there aren't enough elders, an elder sponsors the group. It's a symbol of respect for the youth of the clan and also offers the young cats a chance to have someone to confide in and seek advice from someone. The apprentices in the ceremony offer gifts to the elder in gratitude.

Or, if the clan is highly religious or superstitious, an apprentice ceremony could involve the medicine cat. Maybe the medicine cat examines them in front of the clan (not in an invasive way) and declares them healthy and fit to be apprentices. Or maybe they pray over them or bless their training.

It could also involve elements of the clan territory or terrain. Maybe for a water based clan, kits becoming apprentices have to show they can swim a certain distance to prove they can make it in certain areas of the territory. Or they have to climb a tree or cliffside to reach the area where the ceremony is being held. It wouldn't be a major test prep anything but it would be a small achievement, something to mark their move from kit to apprentice.

In any case it doesn't even have to be a big change. Maybe every clan or leader has a different way of working the ceremony, or a different order. Like lining up all of the apprentices, or all of the mentors. Or the clan responding at different times in different ways.

What this does is gives each clan a unique way to welcome their kits as apprentices.

Warrior ceremony-- very similar to the previous one. This is the ceremony though that welcomes youth as full adults. It should be treated with great respect and celebration, particularly for the new warriors.

We know that Canon at least has one attempt at this, in the form of the vigil, but it's a custom which doesn't always fit the clan culture. Personally I think it fits Thunderclan well. They are neighbors with Shadowclan, known to be more at home in the dark, and even perform ambush attacks. The vigil likely remains from the early days when ambushes might have still been common, and would be a symbol of trust, that the clan believes that they can sleep and rest because these cats are now warriors and adults, and understand their duties. But like I said it fits Thunderclan better than the other clans.

Let's say in Windclan that instead, their warrior assessment, or their first task, is to take down a large bird. Like in Tallstar's Revenge, it would show that the cat is capable of protecting their clan from the more common threat, a threat from the skies. A warrior brings back the kill and the clan feasts on it, and the warrior gets to keep the feathers, the sign and memory of when they became a warrior.

This is another element. You might have two separate aspects of the warrior ceremony. The initial assessment which proves that the cat is a capable warrior, and then their first task. Or you could have only one. Either way it is just more details to add richness to the story.

Of course you have the actual ceremony as well, which could be changed. It might involve the Canon way, or you could have other options. Maybe it's the mentor who presents their apprentices warrior name, their final act of passing on the culture and teachings of the clan. Or again if the clan is religious the medicine cat or seer presents the name as a religious blessing. Or maybe an elder or immediate family member, the cat who has been closest and means the most to the apprentice. (Reminds me of the idea of first salute which my husband had as an officer). The warrior might offer a gift or a gesture of gratitude.

Again there are lots and lots of options to work with here. I would suggest working with themes, like a water based clan having water based ceremonies, a more religious clan having certain religious rituals, a nature based clan involving nature, etc. Basically the most cohesive a clans symbolism the easier it is to relate and organize.

Leader ceremony-- this one partially depends on if you have a Starclan and how they interact with the clan. But Canon has always been a bit odd about this. They sometimes show the actual ceremony in Starclan, but the clan themselves hardly seems to have any kind of reaction or involvement. So what if they had their own ceremony/celebration? This could be before visiting Starclan or after.

If it's before you could potentially have the clan preparing their new leader. Maybe a collective grooming, or hunting for the new leader or preparing a new nest in the den for them. The clan is preparing for the transition by both honoring the previous one, maybe by telling stories of their exploits, and simultaneously bringing in the New leader with great fanfare.

If the celebration is after, maybe the new leader holds their first clan meeting, cementing their position, or a feast is held on their honor after the fast they made in order to unicate with Starclan. Their closest friends and comrades tell tales of their good deeds, of how they earned their leadership position. The leader tells the clan of their intentions and plans and gives a speech. Then they announce their deputy and they are included in the celebration.

This could but does not necessarily include deputy ceremonies. Depending on how a deputy or even leader is chosen the ceremony will of course be different.

For example in one of my clans in order to become deputy, there is something of a battle Royale event. The winner would be treated to a huge feast, and groomed and their wounds tended to before the clan. If possible, they encouraged to stand and take their place beside the leader while every cat cheers their endurance and strength.

I could give plenty of examples, but you get the idea. A deputy appointment should be treated with joy and celebration just as much as any leaders.

Medicine cat Ceremony-- another ceremony I believe is somewhat ignored is the medicine cat ceremony. Again it is mostly relegated to the Starclan aspect without any involvement from the clan. It would be very nice if they got some recognition at least once, considering normally how separate they are from the clan. If anything this would be the perfect opportunity to show the medicine cats that the clan supports them. For wither a day before or after the medicine cat would be pampered, and for the first time in a long time (maybe ever) the clan would be taking care if them instead if them caring for the clan. They might be groomed and decorated with flowers, offered their favorite prey, and other things they might desire.

I actually don't have too much to say on this one, since i haven't given it too much thought. But it definitely would be nice to have them have a day of gratitude and recognition.

Elder Ceremony-- I hate how Canon treats elders, absolutely detest it. If elders are supposed to be a position of respect, they deserve a ceremony for it.

Maybe cats tell their stories, or warriors come and thank them for the different things they have done. Maybe the leader awards them with titles based on their life experiences, or their old apprentices give them gifts. The whole clan helps build the new elder a nest in the elders den, contributing materials and sentimental things. Maybe the first story they tell, is their own story, or they retell the very first story they heard from an elder, continuing the cycle of stories and knowledge.

Maybe elders are announced at the warriors last gathering so that all clans can address them with respect and gratitude, because becoming an elder is a feat and a privilege and they deserve respect no matter where they are from.

In any case there is so much more you can do beyond Canon.

A few questions to guide you when thinking through these:

Do your clans have a script for different ceremonies? Are they different from Canon? Are they different from each other?

What role do families play in the different ceremonies?

When do kittens receive their names? Who names them? Who presents their names to the clan?

How are mothers involved with the naming and presenting of their kits?

Is there any way which kits are blessed or integrated into the clan when they are named?

Do apprentice ceremonies have any special elements to them? Are they private or public? How does the clan celebrate them?

Are there any special tasks or rituals which the clans have to integrate their apprentices into the clan?

Do the clans have any specific assessments which apprentices have to complete to become warriors?

Who presents the warrior with their new name? What role do mentors play?

Is there any action of gratitude involved in the ceremony? (Like from mentor to apprentice, apprentice to mentor, mentor to leader, apprentice to leader, etc)

Is there any assigned task for new warriors (like a vigil)?

How do the clans celebrate a new leader? And a new deputy?

How does the clan celebrate a new medicine cat?

[warriorsredux]

Chapter Thirty-Three

“You have to tell someone.”

Fireheart’s eyes itched from sleepiness. He rubbed them with a paw a little harder than he needed to, trying to wake himself up, only stopping when stars popped up behind his eyelids. He blinked blearily and looked back up at the anxious-faced Raventhroat and the morose Greystripe. 

“I know,” Fireheart said. “I just... maybe it was some friends of his.”

“What about Lionpelt’s body?” Raventhroat said. “That can’t just be explained away.”

“But he got that from a kittypet,” Greystripe said. “Bluestar won’t believe it.”

“I hardly believe it myself, to be honest,” Fireheart said. He felt exhausted and wide awake at the same time. “Maybe if I can get more information about him from some friends or something, it’ll clear things up.”

“Who are you getting more information from?” Raventhroat said. “Darkstripe won’t talk to you, and Lizardtail probably won’t know much-”

“Sandstorm,” Greystripe said suddenly. “She’d know. Tigerclaw was her mentor.”

“Great.” Fireheart sighed. “I’m sure that’ll go well.”

“One of us can ask, if you want...” Raventhroat began.

“I’ll handle it.” Fireheart looked around. “Where is she?”

“Outside, I think.” Greystripe nodded at the entrance. “She might’ve gone out with Dustpelt.”

“Double great.” Fireheart shook out his fur. “I’ll catch up to them, then. You stay here and be on the alert for You-Know-Who.”

The two nodded and Fireheart hurried out of camp. It took some running and stumbling over patches of grass, but just as the sun blinked out and colored the sky yellow and black, he found Sandstorm.

“Hey!” he called.

Sandstorm turned and looked at him with an unpleasant kind of surprise. Just as Fireheart caught up to her, he realized he hadn’t prepared for what he wanted to say.

“Uh-” he started, and stuttered a few noises out. “Where- where are you going?”

Sandstorm’s surprise changed to bemusement. “Walking.”

“Cool!” Fireheart said, a little too enthusiastically. “Uh... can I go with you?”

Before Sandstorm could respond, she looked past Fireheart. His nerves twinging, Fireheart turned around. Tigerclaw was approaching from the exact same direction Fireheart had come from. There were no tansy flowers on his pelt.

No one said anything until he was a body-length away. He turned his head to Fireheart. Fireheart waited.

“I need to talk to you,” was all he said.

Fireheart looked at Sandstorm and back to Tigerclaw. “Well- well, talk.”

No change of expression from the deputy, except for the tiniest darted look at Sandstorm. “It should be a one-on-one conversation.”

“Can it wait?” Fireheart tried to sound casual. “I’m patrolling with Sandstorm right now. I can talk to you when I get done here.”

Sandstorm didn’t say anything, but she glanced between the two toms with a tilted head.

“...Alright,” Tigerclaw said slowly. “I’ll see you later.”

He walked off, every line of his body perfectly neutral and calm. Fireheart sighed in relief when he was out of sight.

“Wonder what he has to say to you,” Sandstorm said, with a sort of forced politeness.

“Yeah, I wonder.” Fireheart made himself brighten up as he faced Sandstorm, speaking a little louder in case Tigerclaw was still nearby. “Well, let’s get on with the patrol! The sooner we’re done, the sooner I’m out of your line of sight, right?”

Sandstorm, evidently, did not find this funny. Without a proper reaction, she started for the border, leaving Fireheart to trot after her in silence.

The walk was very awkward. Fireheart couldn’t think of anything to say and Sandstorm didn’t seem interested in talking. It was very clear that Fireheart had imposed himself on what was supposed to be a quiet, solo stroll around the territory. He felt bad, mostly due to his own discomfort, but he was more afraid of a confrontation with Tigerclaw than Sandstorm’s cold shoulder.

Still, he thought, looking at her, she might know something he didn’t. If anyone could justify what Fireheart saw, it would be her.

By the time he’d planned out everything he wanted to ask, they had reached the road. Sandstorm started sniffing along the border, her nose slightly wrinkled.

“Say, Sandstorm,” Fireheart said, and immediately flinched at the look of complete dismissal and annoyance she gave him. What he had wanted to say fizzled out of his mind.

“Yes?” Sandstorm said when he went on too long without talking.

“...I wanted to ask you a couple things about- about Tigerclaw.” Fireheart mentally berated himself for the lack of confidence in his voice. Casual, be casual!

She didn’t appear to notice. “And you couldn’t ask him yourself because...?”

“It’s a long story.” Fireheart breathed in and braced himself. “See, I saw something, and I, uh, a few of us have been talking about it, but I don’t really know Tigerclaw that well myself. But you’re his apprentice, so you could help me out here without me being...rude to him.”

“Okay,” Sandstorm said, sounding less tetchy. “What do you want to know?”

Fireheart resisted another relieved sigh. “Well, for starters, how does Tigerclaw feel about the houses?”

Sandstorm gave him a funny look. “He always told me never to go there, even in the winter. He’s not that wild about kittypets or humans.”

“I figured,” Fireheart said. “But... so he doesn’t have any friends or anything besides those of us in ThunderClan?”

“You mean in the other Clans, or in the houses?”

“Either or.”

“I wouldn’t think so, no.” Sandstorm’s face relaxed. “He’s never been a fan of strangers. I’m still surprised he spoke for you.”

“You and me both,” Fireheart muttered, disheartened. “He really doesn’t know anyone on the outside?”

“He hardly even acknowledges that cat at the Barn. Barley, I think.” Sandstorm looked over at Fireheart. “Why is that so important?”

Fireheart debated inwardly before hesitantly saying, “I saw him talking with two loners yesterday.”

Sandstorm stared at him.

“I was in the houses,” Fireheart said. “I was- I was hunting, and I saw Tigerclaw. He met up with those two and they started talking about something.”

“Loners?” Sandstorm echoed.

“And it’s not just that,” Fireheart said before he could stop himself. “Did you see where he was the night Lionpelt went missing? Or, or what he was doing when your father fell off the cliff?”

Sandstorm’s eyes narrowed. “What does that...”

“I’m not trying to accuse him of anything.” Fireheart stepped forward, lowering his voice. “But some of us have noticed some weird stuff, and it got topped off with that visit to the houses. I have no idea what it could mean. That’s why I’m asking you. Darkstripe would just blow it off, but you’re honest. You could help me out here.”

Sandstorm was silent and stiff, visibly processing what Fireheart had been saying. Fireheart hoped she was going to give him more information, but when she turned her gaze back to him it was flaring with anger.

“Are you serious?” she snapped.

Fireheart blinked.

“You don’t want to accuse him of anything, but you just implied he may have done something to our deputies.” Her voice wavered. “To my father. And, what, you saw him at the houses? The place he hates the most? How do I know you’re not making something up?”

Fireheart shook his head frantically. “No- see- I was- I was actually investigating with some old friends. A cat there said that Lionpelt’s body wasn’t hit by a car. He had his throat torn out.”

Sandstorm’s eyes drifted downwards, her tail slowly puffing up.

“Would I really tell a lie that would get me in trouble too?” Fireheart said. “We could go to the houses right now and ask my old friend about this. He’d tell you the same thing. We could go to the cat who told me about Lionpelt, for that matter.”

Sandstorm said nothing for a long while - she just sat there, staring at the ground, tail shivering. Fireheart waited nervously, claws digging in and out of the gravel. Finally, she lifted her head and looked at him in silence.

“So you’re insinuating that my mentor may have murdered Lionpelt,” she said at last, a little calmer. “What else are you saying he did?”

“I don’t want to say he did anything, Sandstorm,” Fireheart said. “But... well...”

He looked around and tasted the air to make sure they were alone. When he was satisfied, he sat down and explained everything he, Raventhroat and Greystripe had talked about. Sandstorm listened quietly, her face going from indignant to perplexed to disturbed as Fireheart listed off the suspicious events surrounding Bluestar.

“And you haven’t told her yet?” Sandstorm said when he had finished. “Why not?”

“For me, personally?” Fireheart said. “I don’t want to cause any big problems if this just turns out to be nothing. But you agree that it’s suspicious, right?”

“It’s very suspicious.” Sandstorm shut her eyes, her features pinched. “I can’t even imagine Tigerclaw wanting to hurt any of his Clanmates, but... this is all very strange. You need to talk to Bluestar about this as soon as possible.”

“I know I should, but-”

“It couldn’t hurt to at least let her know.” Sandstorm opened her eyes again. “I think Tigerclaw needs to be spoken with too. Maybe that’s what he wanted to talk about.”

“Hopefully he just wanted to talk,” Fireheart mumbled, more to himself than to her. He stood up. “Do you have anything suspicious you’ve noticed about him lately?”

“No,” Sandstorm said. “No. I don’t think so. I’ll let you know if I think of something. For now...”

“Right.” Fireheart backed up a little. “I’m going to go home and talk to Raventhroat and Greystripe again. We’ll come up with a plan.”

“Tell me as soon as you do,” Sandstorm said. She leaned forward with a very serious look. “And tell Bluestar once she’s awake. This is really important.”

“I know.” Fireheart nodded. “Thank you for listening.”

He started to trot off, but Sandstorm said, “Hey.”

He paused and looked back at her.

Her tone was almost friendly. “Thanks for spoiling my walk.”

“Sorry,” Fireheart said, trying to sound friendly back. “Have fun.”

With that, he ran back into the woods, not pausing for breath until he had returned to camp. To his relief, Tigerclaw was nowhere to be found. Raventhroat and Greystripe had gone to sleep at the edge of the warrior’s den, and Fireheart settled between them with a yawn. He was asleep before he had time to think about his conversation with Sandstorm. 

[warriors-starry-destinies]

The Battle of the Clans

The full moon shone brightly in the sky, signifying the night of one of peace between the Clans and Tribe.

DayClan was the first to come, their leader Poppystar guiding them. MapleClan came not long after them, Redstar guiding them with her deputy Pine close behind. Coltfoot, DayClan’s medicine cat, came over to talk to Redstar, while Pine seemed to be waiting for his sister, Maple of PineClan.

The Tribe of Darkening Shadows came before PineClan did, Sunwatcher leading them with a few guards on her sides. The Tribe’s to-bes raced over to the Clans’ apprentices, immediately starting to converse with them about various things, while Sunwatcher went over to sit with her fellow leaders.

“Where’s PineClan?” she asked.

None knew, though Pine said he’d smelled them on his way.

The only sounds were the cats talking amongst themselves about various unimportant things. But then, before any cat knew what was happening, PineClan burst into the hollow, Barkstar in front!

“PineClan, attack!” he yowled, his cry louder than all else.

The warriors spread out, most staying in the dark while the Clan’s sunwalkers stayed in what light there was.

DayClan, MapleClan and the Tribe knew naught what to do. They exchanged glances with one another, anxiety in their glances.

“Su-Sunwatcher!” a voice amongst the PineClan cats stammered, keeping her voice loud.

“Icestream!” Sunwatcher exclaimed, knowing her mate’s voice. She charged into the crowd, a few guards exchanging looks before nodding and following.

The Tribe’s healer and Clan’s warrior touched noses once they reached one another, before remembering the more serious issue at paw, that being PineClan’s ambush.

She and the leaders of the Clans which remained passive managed to sneak away, Icestream, Coltfoot and Wolfflower following close behind.

“I don’t know the code all that well, but isn’t attacking on a full moon forbidden?” the healer inquired, fixing her messied fur up.

“That is a fact known by all wild cats,” Poppystar confirmed, “the full moon is sacred, a night given by whatever afterlives that watch them to exchange advice, have friendships, and hunt without fright.”

“Barkstar was never one to care for the truce,” MapleClan’s leader chimed in, “if any cat approached him and he didn’t know them or they didn’t seem peaceful, he’d strike, regardless of the moon’s shape and size. In all honesty, if he wasn’t my brother, I’d’ve challenged him of his leadership before Asterstar found us.”

“I was there for the whole planning of the attack,” Icestream spoke, “when someone brought that up, Barkstar said, “the code has flaws, as is heavily apparent; we must speak up against them at some point”, as if the full moon truce was only a Clan thing.”

“I don’t think we have a choice then,” Sunwatcher sighed, “if Barkstar doesn’t care for one rule of the code, he likely doesn’t care for the one specific rule I’m thinking of either. You know which one I mean, correct?”

The Clan cats nodded, and recited together:

“Each Clan has the right to be proud and independent, but in times of trouble they must forget their boundaries and fight side by side to protect the four. Each Clan must help the others so that no Clan will fall.”

“He’ll likely fight until DayClan, MapleClan and the Tribe are no more than a memory, an ideal,” Redstar sighed, before turning to her present mate, “Coltfoot, do you have any ideas?”

“I wish I could say I do, but I do not,” he sighed, “all I have to say is, thank goodness Icestream and Sunwatcher’s kits aren’t here.”

Icestream and Sunwatcher clearly agreed with that sentiment; if their kits were here, apprentices and to-bes, what would they do? Fight their kin? Be overloaded? Run away?

“Surely Barkstar will realize they’re outnumbered, three to one,” a voice spoke, as Maple and Pine emerged from the bushes, “he may be a bit of a mouse-brain and a fox-heart, but he cares under his irritable and emotionless shell.”

Pine agreed with his sister’s words, looking at the cats who were gathered. 

“We need to fight.”

Sunwatcher sighed before nodding, turning to Icestream. “I don’t want you to get hurt; Honeykit and Hailkit need you.”

“And what, Sun and Bee don’t need you?” her mate asked, before sighing. “I know you want me to stay safe, but I’m a warrior, Sunwatcher, not a helpless kit.”

“You’re a queen right now, Icestream; why Barkstar brought you here when you have kits who are barely weaned, I don’t know. Hailkit and Honeykit need you! Bee and Sun need me, too, but I’m not fighting myself; my guards and hunters are,” she mewed, “please stay safe. For me.”

Icestream sighed, nodding. “Okay. Stay safe, my dandelion.”

Sunwatcher nodded before pushing through the bushes and running to her guards and hunters, who were gathered confused, away from the fighting.

“Guards, I need a few of you to stay with Icestream and Wolfflower to make sure they stay safe,” she mewed; at the time, Wolfflower was expecting Poppystar’s kits, “the rest of you, I want you to do one of two things; either make sure the to-bes don’t do anything mouse-brained, or go into battle alongside MapleClan and DayClan.”

“We’re fighting?” one cat asked. “But the truce-”

“Barkstar doesn’t care about the truce,” came Redstar’s voice as she and Coltfoot walked over, “I’m sure that SpiritClan or the Tribe of Brightening Stars or mouse-dung, maybe even both, will send a sign when we should stop,” she looked up at the starry sky, where the moon still shone brightly, not covered or anything, “but no clouds cover it yet. So, fight we will.”

The cat sighed, nodding. “Mouse-Hide, Tulip-Breeze, we should go and protect the to-bes,” they mewed. While their name has been long forgotten, their mates’ names have not; they had kits who were newly made to-bes, and they did not want them to be reckless, “anyone else who wishes to come, follow.”

The guards went to where the to-bes sat, alongside some apprentices, who Redstar ushered over. “Wetpaw,” she spoke to a young, light apricot calico she-cat, “you are the eldest apprentice in MapleClan; lead all of the apprentices older than eight moons into the battle. Except Tinypaw; you, young sir, guide the apprentices younger than eight moons and yourself back to the to-bes and guards. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Tinypaw’s ginger pelt bristled but he agreed, guiding the younger apprentices back to the to-bes’ huddle; Wetpaw’s eyes shined as she kinked her tail back and stalked her way over to a PineClan cat who was fighting her mentor, before jumping on their back and digging her claws in.

Redstar sighed. “Alright, now what?”

“Where’s Flickerleaf?” Coltfoot asked. The spotted tom was nowhere to be seen, nor were his mates. He paused. “Wait a second… does PineClan have a medicine cat? The cat they send to the Moonfalls every half-moon seemingly doesn’t know a thing about herbs.”

“Barkstar says having a medicine cat is “weak”,” MapleClan’s leader answered, “he said that anyone who wants to be a medicine cat might as well go be a kittypet in Twolegplace. I don’t understand him!”

“I don’t think that,” came Maple’s voice, yet again, “maybe I should be leader already.”

“I don’t know how many lives Barkstar has, and if they don’t have a medicine cat and you don’t know,” Maple shrugged at this, indeed confirming that she did not know, “then no one does! For all we know, he could have all of his lives left!”

“He’s lost at least one.”

“How?”

“From a tree crushing him. We decided to make a medicine cat den and the pine logs we brought to make it look nice fell on him,” she mewed, her tone playful, making Redstar relieved - thank SpiritClan someone was optimistic still.

“He has eight lives at the most, then,” Coltfoot sighed, “unless we toss him in the River of Forever and hold him down or something of the sort, I don’t think we’re in much luck.”

“He has come back to camp with his fur ruffled a few times, though,” she mewed, “and seeming… out of it. Does that happen when leaders lose lives?”

“I have all of mine,” Redstar shrugged. Poppystar trudged over, “we can ask Poppystar.”

“Poppystar,” Maple mewed, “do leaders’ fur get ruffled and then they seem out of it when they lose a life?”

It took awhile for the DayClan leader to process this. “Well, maybe not the fur ruffle part; it depends on how the life was lost. I have felt out of it after losing the lives I’ve lost, tired too. Why?”

“I think Barkstar’s lost more than one life,” Maple grinned, “thank SpiritClan! He’s lost at least… five, I think.”

“Well then, I think we can do this,” Redstar grinned as well.

The leaders told their warriors of the plan, to which they agreed, going into the crowd; the leaders, Maple, Pine and Coltfoot stayed back, as did Sunwatcher, who’d been awfully quiet.

“Was Icestream still there when you left?” she asked at last.

“I believe so,” Poppystar nodded. This made Sunwatcher relieved.

How long the fighting went on for, none knew. But then, all of a sudden, the sky darkened and clouds covered the moon.

The leaders waited anxiously and then heard it.

“Barkstar’s lost a life!”

Right then, the leaders heard thunder.

SpiritClan had brought a storm.

They attempted to duck under the trees, Poppystar attempting to help Sunwatcher climb up, but when lightning struck one and burnt it to a crisp, they realized that was not efficient.

The cats still fought despite the conditions; what did they think, that it was brought to give them an advantage?

It was then that Sunwatcher saw Icestream run across the now battlefield, tail bristling as the guards chased after her.

She jumped on top of the rock and yowled.

“STOP!”

Boom!

The sound of thunder was heard and Sunwatcher watched in horror as her mate tumbled off the rock, hitting her head on the wet ground.

“Icestream!”

Boom!

How much thunder was heard then, none knew. Was SpiritClan attempting to strike down Icestream, or did they think Barkstar had jumped onto the rock?

All they knew was that the bodies that lay motionless on the ground weren’t pretending to be dead, not fooling around.

They were truly dead.

A battle had taken place that day.

The bodies were buried, around the stone. Except for Icestream’s. Sunwatcher brought it to the border between her Tribe and PineClan, settling it in a grave that had been dug by both the groups’ elders.

This is how we decided that the spot was no longer temporary, but rather, permanent.

That is how it got its name of the Memorial Stone.

[ailuronymy]

Guest Warriors-ify: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (original trilogy)

(There will be spoilers!!! These games have a billion characters so I narrowed it down to the most important ones. Sorry if someone you were hoping to see isn’t in here!) 

(I might come back for Dual Destinies…)        

Phoenix Wright: Dark blue mackerel tabby tom. Thick, medium-length fur that has a tendency to stick upright. Others make fun of him for this. Zealous with an overactive imagination. Clingy with his friends, becomes lethargic when ignored or abandoned. Never, ever gives up. Highly unpredictable. Direct and confrontational, even to the point of yelling in the face of much bigger cats who he knows are dangerous. Keeps managing to fake his way through tough situations in ways that make him look like a prodigy. Because of this, he’s been struggling to maintain this reputation - and keeps barely scraping by. (name: Dovestorm) 

Miles Edgeworth: Dark ginger classic tabby tom with a wavy white splash on his chest and on his tailtip. Sleek-furred shorthair. Resting grumpy face. Convinced that his father’s death was his own fault; lashes out his over this guilt by enforcing the warrior code a bit too fiercely. Apprentice-hood friends with Dovestorm; they grew apart when his father died. An actual prodigy who views Dovestorm’s brash rise to fame with contempt. After learning the truth about his father, he’ll go on a long journey to become a much nicer, calmer cat. (name: Sorrelheart) 

Dick Gumshoe: Big, stocky tom. Dark brown spotted tabby with a pale underside. Long, scruffy, unkept fur. Sorrelheart’s loyal  henchman  right-hand man. Far from intelligent but loyal and loving to a fault. Doesn’t have one single bad bone in his body - but has been known to do bad things when ordered to because he’s too naive to fully realize what he’s doing. Jumps to conclusions. Deeply affectionate. (name: Buzzardflower) 

Manfred Von Karma: Loud, intimidating blue-silver mackerel tabby tom. Long, elegant fur that’s grayed quite a bit with age. Vicious and egotistical. A bitter, abusive perfectionist with a nasty habit of attacking anyone who disagrees with him - verbally and physically. Has even been known to order the leader around (who, to be fair, is kind of a coward). Sorrelheart’s manipulative former mentor. Killed Sorrelheart’s father and, thanks to Dovestorm, will one day be banished for this. (name: Ashclaw) 

Franziska Von Karma: Equally loud, equally intimidating blue-silver mackerel tabby molly. Long, elegant fur that’s still young and beautiful. The spitting image of her father. Perfectionist to the point of intense self-critique. Lashes out violently in response to her insecurities. Does not yet realize that her father was abusive and is bitter over his banishment. Torn between respect for him and sisterly love for Sorrelheart. (name: Birchclaw) 

Mia Fey: Black smoke shorthair molly with a long tail. As she is smoke, her mackerel stripes show a bit on her chest and legs. Tall and beautiful. A remarkably just and outspoken warrior who is highly respected for her sense of duty. Murdered by a dangerous rogue she’d been tracking, much to the devastation of her former apprentice, Dovestorm. (name: Sootheart) 

Maya Fey: Smoke tortoiseshell shorthair. Has an adorable bushy tail. Supposed to be a medicine cat apprentice but she keeps slacking off. Mischievous molly who is cute enough to pass as innocent, which she uses to her advantage. However, heavily spiritual and mature when she needs to be. Teams up with Dovestorm after her sister, Sootheart, dies. They hunt down that rogue together and become friends in the process, having many more misadventures together afterward. (name: Duckpaw - later Ducktail.) 

Pearl: Classic lilac-silver tabby longhair. Very tiny. Much more durable than she appears, both physically and mentally/emotionally. Likes to play matchmaker with the grown-up cats. Another medicine cat apprentice, as it’s normal for this clan to have more than one. Very gifted in her connection to StarClan. (name: Mousepaw - later Mouseleaf.) 

Dahlia and Iris: Identical sisters, both lilac tortoiseshells of medium fur length. Both lithe and beautiful. Able to easily pass as each other. One is a violently toxic individual with dreams of revenge; the other is shy and helpless when faced with her sister’s manipulation. (names: Yewfur and Fallowpelt) 

Diego/Godot: Originally a handsome dark brown mackerel tabby longhair, poison killed most pigmentation in his body. His nerves (including vision) have been severely impacted as well. Now he’s white with unfocused red-pink eyes. Sootheart’s mate. Was unconscious for quite some time after being poisoned. Sootheart died while he was in this coma, which is a source of much rage and grief for him. Was once cool and collected, difficult to provoke. Now, he lashes out with petty revenge schemes, primarily against Dovestorm, who he blames for letting Sootheart die. Arrogant. Likes to think he’s mysterious but he’s actually just a jerk. (name: Tigercloud - changed to Whitefur) 

Larry Butz: Ginger ticked tom of medium fur length and white underbelly. Unpredictable. Has horrible luck; keeps getting in trouble with authority through little fault of his own. Always optimistic, always loud, always dumb. When something goes wrong, he’s usually at the center of it. Nobody likes him and yet he somehow keeps getting dates. (name: Honeystorm) 

The Judge: Once-chocolate longhair tom who’s almost completely grayed with age. Supposedly has a strong sense of justice…but easily swayed by threats and sob stories. Pushover. He’s technically the leader but he hardly leads. This guy’s been around forever. How many lives does he have left? Will he ever lose all of them? We just don’t know. (Batstar - once Batfur.)   

BONUS: Rise From The Ashes DLC! 

Damon Gant: Massive longhair ticked ginger tabby tom. Graying heavily with age but still young at heart. A selfish sociopath who passes as a fun-loving, generous senior warrior. Despises non-clan-cats with a passion. Soft spot for warriors who go above and beyond the call of duty. You are either terrified of him or he’s your best friend. Or both. Most likely both. (name: Lionwhisker) 

Lana Skye: Chocolate burmese molly. Shorthair. Deputy but forced into being Lionwhisker’s figurehead. Eternally stoic. Used to be much more gentle and friendly before Lionwhisker started blackmailing her over a murder that her sister was almost framed for. After that, she started to block people out of her life to protect them. (name: Ottercloud) 

Ema Skye: Chocolate burmese snowshoe molly with one white paw. Shorthair. Not even remotely stoic. Passionate, ambitious apprentice. Smart but a little too ahead of herself, often missing details and jumping to conclusions. Angry with Ottercloud for growing distant with her, however, is nevertheless determined to get her back as a sister. (Minkpaw - later Minknose.) 

Jake Marshall: Pale brown mackerel tabby tom. Long, thick fluff around his neck/chest but otherwise very smooth-furred. Acts laid-back but is actually bottling up his emotions. Useful in a crisis but not very good at long-term planning. Suspects fowl play in his brother’s murder, convinced that it wasn’t a rogue like everyone thinks. (name: Volestripe) 

Neil Marshall: Pale brown ticked tabby tom. White tux markings that skip his chin. Very short fur. Eager and hardworking. Former deputy, murdered by Lionwhisker. Minkpaw was originally framed for his murder; Ottercloud found his body, thought her sister had done it, and begged for Lionwhisker’s help to make it look like a rogue did it instead. Ottercloud became deputy in his place. (name: Deerclaw) 

Angel Starr: Gorgeous longhair calico with very little visible ginger. Soft, fluffy fur, especially on her tail and around her chest. Highly ambitious and intimidating warrior; however, she knows this and shows off a little too much, which sometimes makes her hard to take seriously. Volestripe’s mate, teamed up with him to investigate Deerclaw’s murder. Deeply despises Ottercloud. (name: Sheepfang) 

Bruce Goodman: Black-and-white van tom with medium fur length. Once a reluctant member of Volestripe and Sheepfang’s investigation trio. However, he made the mistake of politely asking Lionwhisker to help them, which got him killed in a fit of panic. (name: Swanpelt) 

Mike Meekins: Pale gray-brown shorthair tom. Long-bodied, long-legged, and lithe. Young cat who probably wasn’t ready for the promotion to warrior yet. His main duties include screaming at inappropriate times and annoying Sorrelheart. Looks up to Buzzardflower as a personal hero. (name: Snailfoot) 

[bindingties]

Ok, uhh, going from the events of Maya's trial from the first game and Misty Fey's involvement in the initial DL6 case, how do you think Phoenix and the Fey family overall fit into Fight Cat Verse? I've been thinking about this for the last few hours ngl, but I don't want to derail any plans that you might have.

(( under a cut bc lbr….. ))

Kurain Village and the Khura’in equivalents, I think I want to be tribes with the Kurain tribe having, obviously, come from the Khura’in tribe early on and moving close to the lake territory prior to the arrival of the Clans. I like the idea of Cat Spirit Channeling being a thing and it’s beneficial in that it kinda minimizes vague prophecies and omens, but the channeled cats, while far more specific, tend to not have as much knowledge now that they’re temporarily ‘disconnected’ from well I guess Twilight Realm is still a valid name for the Kurain and Khura’in tribes to use for Cat Afterlife.

The Kurain tribe, being small and having the ability to channel passing matrilineally, has to, as in canon, go outside itself to keep lines alive. They probably had some agreements with other tribes as far as taking mates and such. Once the Clans arrived, the Master came to negotiate and put the same question up. At a Gathering, leaders came to the unanimous decision to decide individually what they’d do. Exact terms became muddled as time went on and now the sight of a Kurain cat, particularly of the Master’s line, coming to socialize and scope out a mate is not particularly unexpected, though individual cats may get bristly. Notably, under Blazestar’s leadership, there was a thorough barring of those visits. In response, WindClan, mostly to be contrary after ThunderClan’s unjust assault, murder of their deputy, and kidnapping of a child, became even friendlier with the Kurain tribe. 

Phoenix and Larry ( Ashfeather and Laureltail respectively ) are both WindClan cats and were apprenticed with Quailclaw before ThunderClan’s assault. Ultimately, as apprentices are wont to do, Ashpaw wanted to go out to retrieve Quailpaw fucking immediately after the battle and was 0.2s away from dragging Laurelpaw with him, but was stopped before anything could come of it. Ashpaw felt great guilt afterwards and resolved to be a great warrior to save Quailpaw from ThunderClan’s clutches. It’s a goal that gets muddled a bit as it does in canon, but WindClan’s close ties to the Kurain tribe do facilitate Mia and Ashfeather’s meeting.

There’s no super clear equivalent of Misty being disgraced? I mean, fucking everyone knows Stormthroat killed Dappleclaw and stole his son, but the Kurain tribe has the same internal upheaval as Kurain village does in canon. Morgan probably secretly sets something in motion to run off Misty or make her appear dead and gone sometime before or around the time of ThunderClan’s attack. Mia ends up leaving to work on what happened on her own and joins WindClan ( maybe Morgan made it look like Clans cats were involved? listen I’m essentially rewriting a lawyer game series but cats ). Mia drops a Tribe name I haven’t come up with and takes the name Sagepool and is “intellectually attracted ;)” to Poppysky. She mentors Ashpaw and keeps his life from totally imploding when some inevitable shitstorm with Dahlia’s cat equivalent happens. 

( Maybe Ashpaw’s first mentor also dies in the battle and Sagepool takes the job having been there a while? Or she doesn’t officially mentor him at all and just serves as a mentor figure sometimes? These timelines are rough jashdgshdghg )

( Do I have to ax Sagepool because I totally don’t want to? Can I just fuck my own timeline & be like wow look at Poppysky and Sagepool having a very happy inter-Clan lesbian relationship shut your mouth )

Maya visits her sister a whole bunch. I may dial up the political intrigue approximately 100x by not having a Redd White murder and instead having Morgan realize Sagepool is getting Close As Shit to figuring out the Truth and sets up machinations to have her killed and it be pinned on Maya. Ashfeather is distraught, Maya is distraught, WindClan’s relationship with the Kurain tribe is growing tense ( if it blows into a full battle, WindClan could win but they’re terrified of ThunderClan swooping in again if they’re weakened ). Ashfeather steps in to investigate and ensure Maya is found innocent. Probably the murder was set up to look like a random snake/fox/badger attack but with y’know hints that Maya actually staged it, but it’s revealed Maya wasn’t involved at all. Unfortunately the depth of the setup isn’t found out because there’s the second game to do lmao.

Quailclaw and Ashfeather like... see each other on border patrols and at Gatherings and Quailclaw is a Huge Asshole and Ashfeather is like ‘:('

As my Turnabout Goodbyes equivalent is Stormthroat doing a coup but Bad, Ashfeather isn’t... super involved with the process. Maybe when RiverClan goes through disaster with Lightningstar and Poppysky, ThunderClan and WindClan both send groups to “help with the stabilization”. Ashfeather is certain things are going better with Quailclaw because working together is doing well for helping RiverClan not collapse from ousting both their leader & deputy, but Quailclaw is considering going rogue and taking a long swim in a turbulent, rocky river the whole time.

( Really ShadowClan is just out here like the fucking kermit tea meme just not getting involved At All )

[frogmanwritings]

Whiteheart’s Decision | Chapter Six

"What on earth was that?" Dogface's bitter voice rung in Whitepaw's ears as his face was planted into the ground, paws outstretched to try and catch a mouse. It had been 2 full moons since his last gathering where he was yelled at by his father, and ever since then, Dogface was super strict with his training. Training was something that Whitepaw looked forward to when he was a kit, but now he was starting to see why Blazepaw always complained about it after each day. Today, he was on hunting patrol with his mentor, along with Cactuspaw and Firefrog, and he was excited to show off his skills to his denmate, who always bragged about the prey he caught on patrol. And he was THIS close to snagging the rodnet with his claws and killing it, but it dove down into its hole just in the nick of time. Now he just felt Cactuspaw's teasing eyes burn deep into her fur as he slowly got up from the ground.

"It's no problem Dogface, the mouse won't be down there forever, I'm sure Whitepaw will get the next one." Firefrog kindly stated to the angry warrior, giving the embarrassed apprentice a flick on his shoulder with his tail. "Worry about your own apprentice, Firefrog..." Dogface simply grunted to the orange tabby, stepping away from him and glaring at Whitepaw. Even with Dogface's angry and disappointed glare looming over him, the apprentice gave a small nod to Firefrog as a thanks for the nice words, forcing himself back up onto his paws.

"Well that thump probably rung in the ears of all prey around here, how about you two-" Dogface snarled in the direction of the two apprentices, "-go south and see if you can't bring back anything. My paws are aching, having to carry this patrol..." Oh please! One little bird and he thinks he's done all the work! Whitepaw quietly retorted, simply nodding his head in acknowledge as he looked at Firefrog. "And me?" Firefrog quickly asked, just before Dogface disappeared behind a bush. A cringe went throughout the warrior's scarred body, as if those words just hit him with a pile of snow. "You... can mark the Swiftclan border then come back.." He muttered under his breath, just barely reaching Whitepaw's ears. "And if I see some Swiftclan cats?" Firefrog once again asked, sending a stronger shudder throughout the annoyed warrior's body. "If they are on their side of the border, there is no issue, just mark it and leave. If they are OUR side, then use those legs and run back to camp, do I seriously have to baby you through this?" He angrily instructed, beginning to walk away.

"Hey!" Cactuspaw's loud voice came out of nowhere, surprising Whitepaw as he had almost forgotten his denmate was there. Looking over, his friend had a mischevious look on his face, as if annoying the senior warrior was funny. Oh no.. Dogface almost didn't stop, wanting nothing more than to just leave and lay in his nest, but he did stop.  Not only did he stop, but he turned around and stomped his way over to the cocky apprentice, broad face hovering over his. "What?" He asked in a gritty, menacing tone, long claws unsheathed and the beginning of a snarl on his muzzle. It seemed that Cactuspaw immediately regretted his decision, the look of mischief on his face replaced with fear. "..N-..N..othing.." The spiky apprentice's stuttered words were forced out of his mouth, ears flattened and tail curled in between his legs. It seemed that answer wasn't enough for Dogface, lowering his head even further, forcing the apprentice to then flop down onto his belly. "No, you are going to let me know why you just called me back here, or else..." He bitterly snarled, those sharp, yellow teeth bared and looming over Cactuspaw's face, small drops of saliva dropping down from his jaws.

Whitepaw desperately looked over towards Firefrog, to see if he would do anything to stop this. It seemed the ginger warrior looked just as disgusted by the act as Whitepaw was feeling, but he kept sat behind, not daring to defy the powerful tom. He's your apprentice, do something! He silently willed on the young cat, but it was no matter, he simply sat still. Looking back at Dogface and Cactuspaw, it seemed no progress was being made. The spiky apprentice refused to speak at all, not being able to come up with an excuse, while Dogface seemed to be waiting for the excuse. Suddenly, there was movement as Dogface then lifted up a paw, claws extended. Cactuspaw was frozen in place, all he could do was close his eyes as the senior warrior prepared his strike.

No! Whitepaw thought in shock, acting on reflex as he pushed his hind paws into the ground and springing them towards Dogface, slamming right against his chest and using all his strength to shove him away. Thankfully the warrior was taken by surprise, sent backwards several tail-lengths, his striking paw only catching a tuft of fur on Cactuspaw's shoulder. "Cactuspaw!" Firefrog called out, now rushing over to his apprentice to check on him. Whitepaw let out a grunt as he worked his way back onto his paws, shaking himself clean of dust, only to see his mentor do the same. Cactuspaw was still stuck in place, limbs shaking as his head tilted to face Firefrog. Dogface's glare would look towards his attacker, seething with rage at what just happened. He had never looked more like a rabid dog as he did in that moment, teeth bared in anger, huge claws digging into the ground as he stared hatefully at Whitepaw.

Whitepaw was just about to bolt off in order to not get slashed into pieces, but it was then when Dogface gave himself a final shake of his coat before walking away, back towards camp, as if the incident never happened. There was a few moments of complete silence, the apprentice almost expecting the warrior to jump out from the shadows and attack him, but nothing... "A...are you crazy?!" Were the words to break the silence, coming from the cowering Cactuspaw. Whitepaw quickly rushed over, thankful to see the strike only caught fur. "No... I just didn't want you to get hurt..." He answered in a small tone, embarrassed to say it but not wanting to lie. "You two should go back to camp, I'll do hunting and bordor patrol." Firefrog ordered, using a paw to help his apprentice back up onto his paws. "But what if Dogface..." Cactuspaw began to ask, only getting his words muffled by Whitepaw's tail. "Thanks Firefrog." He simply stated, before nudging Cactuspaw the way of camp.

Thankfully, Cactuspaw didn't budge, walking alongside Whitepaw back to camp. It was silent once again, except for the occassional bird chirp, just teasingly out of reach for an outstretched paw to swipe and shut it up. Every few steps, Whitepaw would look over to his side to see how Cactuspaw was doing, and each time he couldn't read his expression. He had calmed down from before, but there were still some dots of fear in his sunny gaze. Soon, they had reached the bushy entrance to camp, Whitepaw feeling the wet leaves of the entrance damp his flank. It had rained the previous night, irritating the white tom to no end as the constant drizzle constantly interrupted his well-deserved rest. Having his nest right next to the entrance of the den didn't help, droplets of the cursed water falling right onto his nose just as he began to doze off. Dawnsight said there were going to be some more drizzles coming up in the following days, but none as heavy and loud as the previous one, thankfully.

"Thanks." Cactuspaw's voice then interrupted Whitepaw's thoughts, and the next thing he knew, he was standing alone at the entrance of camp with his spiky friend hopping down the ledges to the clearing, meeting up with Amberleaf. Whitepaw then let out a small chuckle, his mind free from the near-fight with his mentor as he saw the two brush their cheeks together and go to the fresh-kill pile. Cactuspaw was practically still a kit with his attitude, and yet he had managed to snag the interests of a young and pretty warrior in Amberleaf, and he wouldn't be surprised to hear of the two becoming mates the second Cactuspaw became a warrior. Luckily for Whitepaw, Amberleaf had grown much more mature in her few moons after her warrior ceremony, leaving her cruel pranks in the past and becoming a warrior of loyalty, though she was still a bit snarky.

It was a nice thing to see two cats getting along so well, as some of the others faces in Darkclan were a complete opposite. Dogface and Burrclaw were always at each other's throats in arguments over the smallest of things, Ocelotpaw, the oldest apprentice in the clan, often bickered with the other apprentices, even the leader and deputy of the clan, Redstar and Duckthroat, exchanged ill-intended words on occasion. Even the new queen in the nursery, Fernheart, refused to let others know who the father of her unborn kits was, and gave a nasty spit in the way of anyone who asked. It was odd, since she was usually very sweet and quick to help others out.

"Move it, dirt-for-brains!" Suddenly a high-pitched voice came from behind Whitepaw, and he couldn't react as he had a head knock right against his flank, knocking out from the entrance and into the clearing. It wasn't a dangerous fall, the gap from the entrance to the floor was around two fox-lengths, but it still wasn't pleasant to get knocked down like he did. Luckily he was able to balance himself and land on unsteady paws, sliding along them a few tail-lengths, burning and scrapping his paw-pads in the process against the earth. Quickly, Whitepaw gazed up towards the entrance to see just who did the mean act. "See, he's fine! He's not that much of a mouse!" Clawpaw called behind him from the entrance, before safely hopping down the earthy ledges set along a slope down into the camp. Following him would be Burrclaw, Pantherpelt, and Blazepaw, all of them carrying prey except for Clawpaw.

Clawpaw, ever since his apprentice ceremony where he was given Redstar as his mentor, had been nothing but a complete nuisance to everyone with his entitlement. Beforehand, he was a curious, yet quiet kit who wasn't such an annoyance to be around. "Hey, watch where you are going, dingus!" Whitepaw angrily yelled in the direction of his pusher, who was heading the way of Cactuspaw and Peachpaw sitting at the entrance of the apprentices' den. "And the mouse speaks! Thought you had lost your tongue there!" Clawpaw loudly stated, gathering the attention of everyone in camp.

Great.. Whitepaw thought, feeling the curious gaze of all his clanmates burning down onto him. He wouldn't mind an argument with the cocky tom, but not with most of the clan now eagerly awaiting the next exchanged words. Surprisingly, it wasn't neither apprentice who broke the silence, but Glasspaw, who had padded up next to Whitepaw. "Me and Dawnsight should check on your pads, skidding along the hard ground isn't good for them." Her delicate voice told Whitepaw, who nodded his head, happy to try and get everyone's sight off of him. "Yeah, that's right! Go away and get your tiny paws looked at!" Clawpaw's annoying voice rung in his ears as he followed the medicine cat apprentice into Dawnsight's den, who then began to take a look at his paw-pads. Now if things could be as calm and cool in here as they were out there... Whitepaw quietly thought to himself as Dawnsight and Glasspaw silently worked together to treat his scrapped pads, his mind drifting to the idea of becoming a medicine cat, though he knew he would never be able to remember every single herb Dawnsight had to know, as well as far away they seemed from the rest of the clan. Whitepaw wanted to have friends and possibly a mate, be a strong warrior who served his clan with his teeth and claws, not his herb knowledge.

"Now, go ahead and rest for the rest of the day, your pads should be as good as new by tommorrow, though not if you just drag them in dirt." Dawnsight's calm voice ordered Whitepaw, who had no problem in exiting the medicine cat's den, going into the apprentice's and resting himself in his nest, flattening his ears against his head to muffle the usual commotion happening outside as he slowly drifted off to sleep.