#songclan fic

[songclangen]

bee

”Heatherpaw! Heatherpaw!”

Beekit pressed up against her father, watching her sister touch noses with her new mentor. She was adopted, and a moon older than Beekit, so she’d start her warrior training earlier. Beekit was insanely jealous.

”Icymoss is like the best warrior in the Clan, and she’s a moon ahead of me. How am I supposed to ever catch up?” she thought out loud once the cheering had died down.

”There are plenty of good warriors in SongClan,” Honeystripe corrected her, tapping her head with his tail as he approached Heatherpaw to congratulate her.

Beekit hadn’t meant to sound so bitter, and sincerely hoped Heatherpaw hadn’t heard her. She should be happy for her sister, and she was. But it just wasn’t completely fair. Heatherpaw was better than her at pretty much everything already, despite not being born in the Clan and having been very small when she was found. They were actually pretty close in size despite the moon between them, but Heatherpaw was lean and nimble, while Beekit still stumbled over her own paws if she got distracted by a butterfly.

”Congrats, Heatherpaw!” Beekit smiled, pressing her cheek to her sisters anyway. It felt a little forced, so she quickly continued talking; ”I wish Icymoss could become my mentor. You’re so lucky!” That didn’t help, did it?

”Thanks,” Heatherpaw nodded, voice even as usual. ”He’s kind of a goofball, you two would never get anything done.” 

Beekit forced a small laugh. It was hard to tell when Heatherpaw was joking, because her expression was always so unrevealing, but she’d started to get the cues. Still, she didn’t find it very funny.

”Speaking of…” Honeystripe mumbled, nodding to Icymoss who was stood at the entrance of the Camp. ”Don’t you have a territory tour to get to?”

Heatherpaw bounded off without saying goodbye, and Beekit let out a tense breath. She did like Heatherpaw, of course. But they were so different. They had always been different. Heatherpaw didn’t like to play that much, even when they both had been kits. She had preferred to hunt leaves or bugs in silence, and she didn’t like pretending she was an enemy warrior when they wrestled, so Beekit always had to be that. And Heatherpaw always won. Not because she desperately wanted to, she was just better. Beekit was actually pretty bad at play-fighting.

Once she did become an apprentice, she and Heatherpaw would be the only ones. The idea of sharing a den with her sister alone wasn’t all that appealing. Beekit had lots  of weird dreams all the time, and Heatherpaw would always scold her for waking her up. Not to mention, being one step behind her all the time in training would be annoying.

Maybe Tallbeam or Pronghorn could be her mentor. They were some of the best fighters and hunters in the Clan, and respected warriors. Really, as long as it wasn’t Bugskitter, she’d be happy. That tom really had it out for her. Once, when she was small, she’d asked why he was always so cold and nasty to her. My sister would still be alive if it weren’t for you, he’d said. Beekit had been so shocked and scared that she’d never asked him what he meant, and when she asked her dad, Honeystripe had just told her not to listen to him, that it wasn’t her fault. She still didn’t know what wasn’t her fault, but she would never hurt any cat. Whatever Bugskitter had been talking about must have been a lie. That’s what she told herself, anyway. Really, she didn’t really want to know, because the whole thing just made her feel awful.

The moon before her apprentice ceremony came and went. Any day now, Amberstar would call a meeting and set on her on the warrior path. Like the last few nights, Beekit found herself sleepless. Her uncle Bearfreckle was snoozing soundly in the nursery den (usually someone would to keep her company), his breaths light but weighed with sleep. It didn’t give her much comfort, though.

She didn’t know why she was so nervous to become an apprentice. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t just excitement, like everyone told her. And although she just knew she’d mess up a lot and probably be a terrible hunter and fighter, it wasn’t just doubt either. Something felt wrong. The idea of fighting itself felt horrifying, she couldn’t understand how warriors took such pride in it. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, ever! For any reason!

Restless and feeling like ants were crawling through her pelt, she got to her paws and got out of the nursery. The early Greenleaf air was cool and still. There was no wind and no sound of insects, just perfect silence. At camp’s edge she saw Gulldrizzle’s silhouette, keeping guard. She was facing out into the territory, so she didn’t notice Beekit.

Above, countless stars shone steadily down on her. Finally, a calm feeling began to spread through her body. She loved the stars. Pretty much everyone agreed that they were beautiful and comforting, since StarClan was up there. But when she looked up there, she got the same feeling as she did when she saw Honeystripe, or heard his voice. The comfort that told her no matter what, everything was going to be okay.

Laying down in the soft grass outside the nursery, she tilted her head so she could look up at them. They looked back, like they always did. Then, a shape began to take form between the little white dots. A milky white shadow, that grew more and more intense. Beekit threw herself up, and almost lost her balance when she realized the stars weren’t just above her, but all around her, even under her paws!

Her fur tingled with fear, breath quickening. Then, a voice.

”Don’t be afraid,” it said.

She looked ahead again, and the pale shape had turned into…a cat! A white cat, sitting a few tail-lengths ahead of her, with her tail neatly wrapped around her paws. The first thing Beekit noticed was how one of her ears was folded over her head. Her expression was bright and focused, and Beekit almost felt uncomfortable by the intensity of her deep gaze.

”Hello, Beekit” the she-cat mewed.

Beekit forgot to answer for a moment, then mewed back quietly; ”Hi.”

”You’ve grown so much!” the she-cat burst out with a big smile, then closed her eyes briefly as if to contain her emotions. ”See, I’ve been watching you ever since you were born.”

”Oh,” was all Beekit could force out, still a bit taken aback by seemingly floating among the stars. It finally hit her that she was dreaming, and that calmed her down a little. It was a weird dream, sure, but not weirder than the time she’d dreamt that she was an actual bee, flying between flowers, and all her Clanmates were also bees all living in a hive and making honey instead of hunting.

”Do…” the stranger paused, tilting her head. ”Do you know who I am?”

She sounded very hopeful, so Beekit made sure to think really hard. She’d never seen a cat with a folded ear, and she was sure she’d remember that. Finally, she shook her head slightly.

The she-cat sunk a little bit, looking down at her paws. ”No, of course not…” she mumbled, then stood up. ”That’s alright. My name is Peatswan.” She paused, looking at Beekit expectantly, like that would mean anything to her. It didn’t. Peatswan cleared her throat, looking a bit worried. ”Um, I’m a StarClan cat, but maybe you guessed that?”

Beekit hadn’t guessed that, but now she did notice the stars twinkling in the cat’s fur. They hadn’t been easy to see, since she was as white as snow. Then a chill ran up her spine.

”Wait…am I dead? Am I in StarClan?” she gasped, rising to her paws quickly.

The she-cat’s eyes widened, then she purred with amusement. ”No, you’re not dead. This is StarClan, sort of. Our hunting grounds are in a different place, but I thought maybe it would be good to talk to you somewhere less foreign. Though I now realize this isn’t very normal, either.”

As she talked, a weird feeling buzzed in Beekit’s chest. She suddenly realized her voice was familiar. Had she seen this cat in a dream before, and forgotten? Without thinking, Beekit walked up to the StarClan warrior. Peatswan tensed up, but Beekit couldn’t help herself. Once she was close enough to smell her properly, another chill spread through her body. The scent was sweet and so familiar, like walking into the nursery after being out of it for a whole day. Who was this cat? More and more, it was like she could almost remember, but it was buried deep in her mind.

Then she took a few steps back, realizing she was being a bit rude to this stranger. ”Sorry. Um…did you want to tell me anything in particular?”

Looking up at the she-cat’s face, she was surprised. The white warrior was smiling, but her eyes were so full of sadness and grief that Beekit felt her whole chest twist into knots. Had she said something bad?

”Are you okay?” she asked softly.

”Yes,” the she-cat nodded, almost laughing. ”Yes, I’m okay, Beekit. It’s sweet of you to ask. You’re right, I did want to tell you something.”

”What?” Beekit asked, sitting down in the field of stars.

”As I said, I’ve been watching you since you were born. So has all of StarClan. Do you remember when you were a little kit, and you dreamt that you were buried under the snow?”

Beekit shuddered. ”Yes, and then a blizzard came and all the dens got snowed in overnight…it was scary.”

”That was actually StarClan talking to you, in a dream,” Peatswan explained.

Beekit tilted her head, thinking. ”So it was like…a warning? I’m sorry, I didn’t know that…” she apologized, feeling bad. If she’d understood that, she could have told everyone to prepare for the storm.

”It’s okay, we knew you would all be alright. Otherwise we could have sent it to Ratquill or Riverpetal.”

”So why did you send it to me?” Beekit asked.

Peatswan twitched her whiskers with amusement. ”Isn’t it obvious?” she purred. ”You care so much about your Clanmates, and all you want is to help them and make sure everyone is okay, right?” Beekit nodded at this, suddenly feeling more understood than she ever had before. ”That’s why StarClan thinks you would make a good medicine cat. That’s why your dreams are so vivid, too. You have a very strong connection with us.”

”Really?” Beekit chirped, surprised more than anything.

She hadn’t really considered becoming a medicine cat before. The Clan had always had two, and Ratquill and Riverpetal were excellent at their duty. But then…Ratquill had passed away recently. That’s why Riverpetal hadn’t been able to hang out with her and show her stinky herbs the last moon; he’d been too stressed and busy. She’d felt so sad for him. But now, maybe she could finally help him!

”I’m going to be a medicine cat?” she meowed, standing up, paws restless with excitement. This felt nothing like her doubt about being a warrior, this felt completely right! As a medicine cat, she wouldn’t have to practice fighting, she would just get to help her friends and family when they got sick! That was the dream!

”Does that make you happy?” Peatswan meowed, though it seemed she knew the answer.

”Yes! Very!” Beekit mewed and threw herself forward to press her head against the StarClan warrior’s chest. ”Thank you, Peatswan!”

Peatswan laughed and pressed their heads together in a warm embrace, and although they had just met, it felt so familiar and comforting and just right, and Beekit was filled with so much warmth and happiness that her heart was about to pound out of her chest.

Then, she suddenly felt the ground materialize under her body and cool night air surround her, and Peatswan’s warm body was gone. She was laying in the grass outside the nursery again, but not for long. Brimming with excitement, she scrambled to her paws quicker than prey running from a warrior’s claws and bounded into the warriors den.

”Honeystripe! Father, wake up!” she yowled, crawling over her adult Clanmates where they slept. They all protested loudly to being woken up, some beginning to scold her, but she didn’t care.

”What is it, Beekit? Are you okay?” Honeystripe meowed worriedly once she found him.

”I just had the craziest dream!” she meowed, instantly being hushed.

”No one cares about your stupid dream, Beekit…” Breezebriar grumbled, his amber eyes glinting in the darkness.

”What did you dream, Honeybee?” Honeystripe continued, slightly calmed now.

Beekit took a deep breath, and began to retell her experience in a whisper; ”I met a warrior from StarClan, she was so beautiful and nice, her name was Peatswan, and she told me that StarClan has watched over me and sent me dreams — you remember my dream about the blizzard that came true, right? — and...” she trailed off as she saw her father’s expression change to one she couldn’t read, and suddenly everyone in the den were looking at her. ”What is it?”

”What did she say to you, Beekit?” Twigmoor asked from where she was laying nearby, deep curiosity in her face.

”She told me that I’m supposed to become a medicine cat,” Beekit said, feeling odd suddenly, but smiled at Honeystripe. ”Isn’t that great?”

Finally, he cracked into a smile, and she recognized the look in his eye. It was the same as Peatswans had been, in her dream. ”That sounds like something you’d be good at,” he said.

The stiff silence shifted, some beginning to purr congratulations to her, or speaking quietly to each other. Twigmoor leaned closer to her brother.

”You have to tell her now,” she mumbled seriously, and Honeystripe nodded.

”Tell me what?” Beekit asked, but Honeystripe just stood up from his nest and guided her out of the den with his tail. ”Sorry for waking all of you up!”

Honeystripe led her to the edge of the Camp, above the slope behind the leader’s den. There they sat down. Beekit was prickling with anticipation.

”What is it?” she repeated, studying his face with the unreadable expression.

”I want to tell you about your mother,” he said.

Beekit perked up. She’d wondered about her mother since Ratquill told her where kits came from — her father had been annoyed the old medicine cat her told her that when she was ”too young”, but Beekit had actually understood it pretty well — because that meant Honeystripe couldn’t have done it all himself exactly. Though, there were other families in the Clan that weren’t so obvious how they came to be. Either way, when she’d asked him about it, he had become quiet and upset, and not given her an answer. Even though she had been little at the time, she had understood that she shouldn’t ask about it. Besides, she had Twigmoor and Bearfreckle too, they had helped take care of her since she was born, and the three of them had always been enough. So she’d tried to stop thinking about it.

Honeystripe went on to tell her about how amazing her mother had been. Apparently she was very funny, and knew a lot of things that no one else seemed to know, and could copy bird sounds. Then the story turned very sad. When Beekit was born, her mother had died. Apparently this could happen sometimes, and there was nothing medicine cats could do, and it was no one’s fault.

Beekit was struck with a grief so deep that she had to crouch down.

”Was she Bugskitter’s sister?” she asked, looking up at her father, remembering the warrior’s cold words when she was little.

”Yes,” Honeystripe nodded. ”Bugskitter loved her very much, and misses her very much, just like I do.”

Beekit nodded solemnly, her mean feelings for Bugskitter melting away into sympathy. He couldn’t help being angry, and she could understand. After a brief silence, she asked;

”And Peatswan was my mother?”

”Yes, that’s right,” Honeystripe nodded, laying down next to her.

Beekit had known she and the white warrior were connected from the moment she felt her scent. It had resonated deep within her, filling voids inside her that had been there since she was born. It just felt stupid to start assuming things like that based on so little, and she had trained herself not think about her mother for so long. But deep in her heart, maybe she had known it.

”I’m so glad I’m becoming a medicine cat now, I probably get to see her again soon,” Beekit hummed, smiling to herself. Then she was suddenly struck with guilt after saying that, since Honeystripe clearly missed her a lot. She looked up at him to meet his eyes. ”I’m so sorry, Dad. It must have been so hard when she died.”

The emotion in Honeystripe’s eyes almost made her look away, but she held fast. ”You remind me of her so much, Honeybee. When you’re around, I don’t need to miss her so much.

[songclangen]

holly

The wind whistled over the dark green moorland. Greenleaf would be ending soon, but the air was still pleasantly mild and humid, and the grass wouldn’t grow taller than this before the frost came in a moon or two. Splinterstar had never really enjoyed this season. There was a sort of tension in the air; anticipation for the leafbare that was to come as the nights grew ever so slightly longer and cooler.

Still, she could still enjoy taking moments away from the bustling camp to wander the territory by herself now and then. She liked the quiet. It wasn’t just her age; she’d always been that way. She felt perfectly safe too. Not only did she have nine lives to spare yet, there was peace between the Clans. Border encounters could be tense with WarbleClan lately, yes. The newly appointed Stagstar was… intense. It was surprising their warriors even had time to hunt, considering how often they patrolled the border— 

Splinterstar’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted. Something pale flickered in her field of view, far away. She was near the border to the sheep-place, with the twoleg stone dens beyond. In the tall grass, in the distance, there was a creature. Judging by its size and movements, it was a cat. It paced back and forth hurriedly, looking lost.

The leader rose to her paws and stretched her legs and back, then made for the border.

Once she had gotten closer, the stranger noticed her. She startled and stared at her, arching her back. But there was only fear in her eyes, no aggression. Clearly, this was a lost or abandoned kittypet. Just the wind in the grass seemed to spook her.

”Hello,” Splinterstar meowed evenly and sat down. ”Who are you?”

The she-cat eyed her up and down. She had a strange coloring, with pale fur on her body, but a dark gray face, tail and paws, and icy blue eyes.

”Holly,” she mewed at last. Her voice was little more than a peep, and Splinterstar noticed how young she looked.

”Are you lost, Holly?” Splinterstar continued. Holly nodded. ”You seem to have wandered into my territory.” 

Holly’s eyes widened, full of worry. ”I’m really sorry, I didn’t know.”

”Now you do,” Splinterstar said. ”Why are you out here on your own? You can relax, by the way. I won’t hurt you unless you give me a reason to.”

Holly looked a bit taken aback, but eventually sat down. ”I, um… I ran away, sort of.” Splinterstar tilted her head. ”I live with my housefolk in a house, over there. But…it’s so crowded, we’re eleven cats living in a very small space. I just can’t stand it sometimes. When I saw that the window was slightly cracked open, I squeezed through, just to get some air. But then there was a loud noise out on the road, and I got scared so I started running and got lost, and now…I don’t know how I’m supposed to find my way back.” Holly looked apologetic, like she was embarrassed to admit that. ”Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble on.”

”Do you really want to go back?” Splinterstar asked genuinely. ”Do you like living there, with your housefolk?”

”No!” Holly burst out. ”It’s so cramped, cats are constantly arguing and fighting, and the housefolk just ignore us most of the time…I hate it there! But—” she broke off. ”I have to go back, and soon.”

”Why?” Splinterstar asked. She could understand loyalty to a Clan that cared about you, but these kittypets didn’t sound like they even liked each other.

”I— Oh, it’s horrible. I can’t believe that I left! It was so stupid and irresponsible…” Holly closed her eyes, then looked away. ”I have three kittens back there. They’re just a few days old.”

Splinterstar felt a pang of sympathy for the young queen. ”Really? But you can’t be much older than an apprentice…”

”A what?” Holly asked, confusion mixing with the anxiety in her gaze. ”I know I’m young, but…it wasn’t exactly my choice. Or… I don’t know. I don’t even like their father very much, he’s as stupid as the rest of them.”

Splinterstar sighed, beginning to feel the stranger’s worry rub off on her. She shifted her paws thoughtfully. She didn’t mind meeting cats from outside the Clan and talking to them, as long as they weren’t a threat. But this she-cat had really gotten herself in a heap of trouble.

”How could you leave your own kits like that?” she had to ask. Splinterstar had never had kits of her own, but she had seen the sacrifices a mother would do for them.

Holly’s face screwed up. ”I don’t know! I just— I had to get out of there for a moment, I never meant to run away!”

”Alright, calm down,” Splinterstar sighed. ”You’ll never find the way back if you can’t think straight. I’ll follow you back to the edge of the twoleg place, and maybe you can pick up your scent-trail there?”

”You would do that?” Holly’s eyes lit up. Splinterstar nodded.

She had no responsibility to help the stranger, but she felt for her. She was just a young, confused, somewhat impulsive kittypet. And really, it was the kits she was most worried about. As they began walking back, she asked;

”Do you really want your kits growing up in that place?”

Holly shook her head sadly. ”It’s my worst nightmare. If they even…” her voice broke off. ”I’m scared my housefolk will get rid of them if they find out about them. I’ve hidden them in the basement for now. But they’ll be big enough to start roaming soon, and who knows what will happen then? I wouldn’t put it above some of the others to try and hurt them either…”

”You can’t let that happen!” Splinterstar argued, leaping ahead of the she-cat and stopping her in her tracks.

Holly looked shocked and scared. ”No…I know. But where could I go? We can’t live on the streets, I don’t know how to survive without someone leaving food for me. It could be ages before some other housefolk take us in.”

”We’ll take you in,” Splinterstar said quickly. Maybe it was impulsive, but saving kits from harm was her duty, and they needed their mother too. 

”We?” Holly looked confused. ”Are there more of you?”

Splinterstar quickly briefed through what SongClan was and how in a Clan, everyone took care of each other. ”You would be taken care of until your kits are big enough to fend for themselves.”

Holly didn’t really seem like warrior material, if Splinterstar was being honest. But she was young still, and hadn’t gotten a chance to prove herself in the world. Maybe with time, and some training, they could recruit her to the Clan as a real warrior. Three new, young cats didn’t sound so bad either.

”I don’t know…” Holly mumbled. ”Is it really safe out here? Isn’t it cold and scary?”

Splinterstar sighed. ”Clan life can be tough, yes. But warriors help each other, no one is left behind. I promise you’ll be safer than you, or your kits, could ever be in a twoleg den.” A particularly nasty one at that, it sounded like.

”But…how would I get my kittens out of there? They can barely see yet, much less walk out here,” Holly thought out loud. ”Would you help me come get them?”

”I don’t think that would be wise,” Splinterstar murmured. ”How about you try to keep them hidden for one more moon, until they can at least follow you here? Then bring them to this spot and I’ll meet you.”

Holly thought it over, her eyes glistening with wonder and fear. After a few heartbeats, she nodded curtly. ”Okay. That might work.” She nodded to herself a few more times, like she was trying to convince herself. ”I’ll come here with them in one…what did you call it?”

”A moon. When the moon is the same shape as it is today, we’ll meet here,” Splinterstar explained patiently.

Holly looked a bit confused. ”One moon. Okay. I’ll check what it looks like tonight from the window and try to remember…”

Splinterstar twitched her whiskers. As inexperienced as the young kittypet was, she was sort of charming. ”Just count 28 days from now.”

Holly lit up. ”Oh, okay! That sounds easier.”

They had reached the border to the twoleg place, with the sheep in the sheep-place grazing peacefully in the far end of their pasture. Splinterstar didn’t like this place much. The twolegs weren’t a big problem, neither were the sheep. But the twolegs had dogs that often just roamed free in the area. Holly sniffed around the trampled grass a bit, then flashed a happy look to Splinterstar.

”I can smell my own paws here!” she exclaimed, scraping the ground a little.

”Just follow that trail back, and try not to panic. I’ll see you in one moon. Okay, Holly?” Splinterstar nodded, starting to turn back.

”Yes, okay! Thank you…uh, I didn’t get your name?”

”It’s Splinterstar.”

”Thank you, Splin…Splinterstar!” Holly clearly tried not to sound put off by the leader’s name, but Splinterstar overheard her as she ran off into the twoleg dens; ”Weird name…but okay.”

Splinterstar took a deep breath. She wouldn’t be too surprised if Holly ended up not following through on their deal, and worried something might happen to her before then. But she’d tried to help her at least, and if she could get her kits here in a moon, then maybe she was clan-cat material after all. The pale she-cat finished her walk deep in thought before returning to SongClan’s camp. For now, she said nothing of her encounter with the kittypet Holly.

[songclangen]

info

hi! this is songclan, a clangen account where i post event updates about my pixel kitty cats. right now i’m updating daily because i’m hyperfocused on this clan and have enough free time to do so but that’s subject to change

see bottom of post for tw tags. anyway, i am not used being super organized with tags so i will definitely fail at being consistent, but the general idea is this:

#songclangen - literally all posts surrounding songclan. other people are allowed to use this as well if they want to post fanart or anything like that! but yeah all events, extra art, memes about songclan etc are in there.

#songclan events - these are the moon event updates based on the game!

(here they are in chronological order, though this works best on desktop!)

#songclan sprites - sprites for characters in songclan. i usually add sprites of new characters than join directly on the event post, but feel free to ask for any sprite you’d like to see anytime, and it will also be under this tag

#songclan lore - i haven’t added much in this tag yet, but it’s basically just canon or headcanons that i write, potentially stories about songclan’s past or present. if anyone sends in an elaborate theory, fanfic or anything of the sort, i might remember to put it here

#songclan allegiances - will add to this one when the time is right (when we get to moon 50)

#songclan polls - i like polls

#songclan art - art of songclan characters that i or someone else makes that isn't an event post

#songclan fic - little stories i write.....and if anyone wants to send some in it'll be here!

#not songclan art - art that i make that isn't of songclan characters

#songclan memes - that sort of thing

#asks - yep. asks. 

HERE is a link to the big prongsloe family tree!

clangen is a game with occasionally quite gruesome events surrounding animal death, sickness, abuse and injury. i assume that most people following my account are familiar with warrior cats and are relatively comfortable with how dark those books can get, so i usually don’t tw tag unless it’s like…pretty darn bad. 

TW tags:

#animal injury - if it’s a relatively gnarly injury with blood and such i’ll most likely tag it, but scratches, dislocated joints and stuff like that most likely won’t be tagged

#animal death - any post where a cat character dies, or if there’s a drawing of a dead fox for example (haven’t drawn anything like that yet but maybe at some point), it will be here. dead prey will not be under this tag

#animal abuse - sometimes there are events where humans hurt cats, posts mentioning that will be under here

if i forget to tag something you definitely think should be under one of these let me know, but yeah warrior cats is occasionally dark. so...expect some occasional darkness.