#the sundrown clan

[shadestar413]

I think she should have a cult, as a treat

[bonefall]

Sorry if you’ve already answered something like this! how does Warrior Bites work into the initial journey in TNP? I don’t recall how long the journey to the sun drown place took, but I feel like with how cooked food is preferable due to diseases and parasites, did Bramble and co have to get dewormed when returning to the clans? Or perhaps the Tribe could help them with that on their way back, as a thanks for how they help drive out Sharptooth?

I feel like it’d be difficult to sneak out with extra rations with how the Clans were struggling, plus it’d be difficult to carry all the tools required to cook every time they set up camp. It’d be easier for them to eat their prey raw, at least during certain parts of the journey.

Would also be an interesting opportunity to introduce the cast to different foods, too! Rogue groups in twolegplace using vegetables from gardens for flavor, for example. I couldn’t find if there’s salt beds in English mountains, but if there is the Tribe would have way easier access to it than the Clans do. I bet they’d have wildly different cuisine as a result.

Sorry for the long winded ask but your ideas tickle my autistic brain just right fjahfhsh

The Tribe mountain MUST have salt under it, right? The Appalachians and the Caledonians are the same mountain range split up by tectonic shift and I know there's salt in the Appalachians because it's, like, pre-life-on-earth old right? Hangon

*le googel*

YEP there's a lot of salt in Cheshire, one of the counties I use as a model. Which I could have just learned by googling "uk salt mine." However, my brain is a rube goldberg machine.

The Sundrown Patrol DEFINITELY needed a deep cleaning! They would be full of fleas, probably be carrying a couple of bad knots or a couple of mats, and one or two of them definitely caught worms. Probably Squirrelpaw tbh, knowing her impatient little butt (affectionate).

The Tribe wouldn't do a deep deworming though, because that takes time and the Clan cats would want to get home as quickly as possible. They just stayed for the quick celebration to gather some rations and planned to leave... but then the appearance of Sharptooth changed their plans.

(btw if you wanna see how the Sundrown Patrol's Journey to the Lake goes in Bonefall TNP, I made a map and a synopsis!)

Setting up a basic cooking fire wouldn't be TOO hard though! You just keep a couple of sticks to use as spits and roast your prey over the open fire, like either a roast or a marshmallow. Beats dealing with tapeworms for the whole trip.

Funny enough I actually think it's Crowfoot/feather who's the main cook of the little patrol, I keep feeling like Mudclaw was a pretty good chef. He would have passed that onto Crow.

Tawnypelt: "It's almost sunrise, Crowfoot is late... if he doesn't come soon we'll have to go without him."

Crowfoot: "Hold your hedgehogs I'm here. I was making tunnelbuns for the trip."

Squirrelpaw: "Where- what-- how did you do that so fast??"

Crowfoot: "youre weeeeeeeeelcome."

Stormfur: "Hang on, you didn't steal from your own Clan in famine, did you?"

Crowfoot: "??? I mashed my personal larvae stash to make into travel rations and this is the thanks I get??? you think my clanmates were gonna keep my mealworms alive while I was gone?? Mousebrain!"

Brambleclaw: "Yuck, who wants to eat mashed bugs?"

Squirrelpaw hiding how appetizing it sounds because her buddy Sorreltail opened her eyes to how good grasshoppers can taste.

[mud-castle]

I was thinking, instead of the travel group discovering the lake, and all the clans agreeing to leave because of just how at each other's throats hey all are

What if Starclan essentially went "HEY DIPSHITS, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IF YOU STAY HERE" and have them a general direction for the lake. Then Basically everyone immediately packs up and independently hauls their entire clan up there, probably fighting all the while and trying to strategically place themselves in the best position in this new territory.

I was gonna give an immediate "no," but the more I think on it, the more I think that actually might work better. There's not really a use in the story for the individual cats to go to the Sundrown place, especially considering all but two of them don't do anything after that.

I don't want Starclan to interfere so directly, cause then the clans kinda have to move their asses at the same time and that's kinda boring. So instead, how about the send dreams to the cats who would be the Sundrown patrol in the canon books before the twolegs start destroying the forests that they gotta haul ass soon.

But, in typical Starclan fashion, they're very cryptic about it. I'm having Feathertail and Stormfur follow Mistyfoot back into Riverclan cause Thunderclan has too many cats and Misty needs them to back her up later. Anyway, only Tawny tells her leader while Feather tells Mistyfoot and the other two don't tell anyone for the time being.

Brambleclaw doesn't because he's not the most popular warrior and also doesn't believe Starclan would want him for anything. Crowpaw for similar reasons and also cause he's an apprentice so why wouldn't Starclan talk to Mudfur about it Both of them kinda dismiss the dream while Blackstar dismisses Tawny's concerns.

But then the twolegs come and, to keep a long story short, Windclan leaves first, followed by Thunderclan, Shadowclan, then finally Riverclan. While there's like a few moons between Windclan and Riverclan leaving, they all arrive within a quarter moon of each other, thanks to the dangers of the mountain, fighting and infighting, losing their ways, Sharptooth, blizzards, and Starclan intervention.

[harriertail]

Au idea where Ashfur is the cat chosen for the sundrown patrol, and that changes his entire arc, to where he never goes evil. (He and Squirrel never get together either, but he never goes incel either.) Thoughts? How do you think this would affect Bramble?

So no Bramble POV? Hey, remember how bramblestars arc was about his connection to tigerstar? Remember how both ashfurs parents were killed by tigerstar? I don’t think you can stop Ashfur turning.

So Ashfur gets the dream from Bluestar to travel to the sun-drown-place, why? Because. He meets with the other cats who helped to kill Bone Tawnypelt, Stormfur, and Feathertail, so they already know each other, with Crowpaw, and Squirrel, who tags along becoz she’s Firestar’s daughter and is bored! Midnight and Moonrise go as normal, with Ashfur determined to prove himself as a warrior and help his Clan- thinking of himself as aligned with Firestar and the Good of ThunderClan. We get to the lake, and there’s no Greystripe. Well. We need a deputy. Ashfur is friendly, and crushing on Squirrelflight, who likes him back but isn’t ready to commit just yet, that’s fine- she’ll come around when she realises how Good and True Ashfur is. Ashfur’s a good warrior- trying his hardest to prove himself to Firestar. He starts to want deputyship. He’s got an apprentice already. He’s chosen by StarClan. Brambleclaw, who’s the grouchy type we know him as in TNP, is also rumoured to be chasing deputyship as well. But how is that fair if he gets it? Tigerstar ruined ThunderClan- Tigerstar killed Ashfur’s parents- and Tigerstar’s kin is going to be deputy? That’s not fair. He’s evil. The whole of ThunderClan knows he’s evil, it’s in his blood. Ashfur and Brambleclaw find themselves in direct competition for deputyship, and Squirrelflight. So Ashfur steps up. He does every patrol, every hunting mission, neglects his friends, neglects his future mate, to prove himself to his leader.

Firestar bleeds out on the lakeshore. A RiverClan cat is dead. Brambleclaw is made deputy while his pelt is still drying. Squirrelflight goes to him. How, how?, did the cat chosen by StarClan, blessed by Bluestar, aligned with Firestar, lose? It’s not fair. It’s never fair. He did all that work, all those miles to the sea front, all the trekking and bleeding and hurting, and you didn’t win. Evil wins. Better luck next time kid, have you learnt you lesson yet?

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

do the cats have any like. things with bugs? like symbolism or stories?

Ants - Ants, due to their strength in numbers, are seen as very good friends and an example as to why working in teams in a good thing. A single ant can hardly move anything, but an entire team of ants can move huge pieces of food! The Ant- prefix is supposed to inspire the thought of a cat who is a team player, someone who works well with others. The ancient cat Antcloud of Riverclan, Cloudberry's brother, was known as a friendly cat to all. Antpelt's mother named him Antkit in hopes he'd make lots of friends...

Ladybugs - These little critters are actually associated heavily with motherhood! It is said that if a pregnant Queen sees a ladybug with many spots, the queen will have many kittens! If the ladybug does not have many spots, they will not have many kittens. Superstitious cats believe in it, like Brightheart, where cats who don't, like Cloudtail, tend to just think they're pretty. Ladybug is a very, very rare prefix, seen in ancient times with an underaged Shadowclan apprentice, Ladybugpaw. He is demoted back to Ladybugkit, and his future name was Ladybugfur.

Praying Mantis - These tough bugs (seriously I'm pretty sure fear is a foreign concept to these things) are seen pretty differently by each Clan. To Shadowclan, they are a snack, albeit a more bizarre one, often paired with roasted poultry and spicy Juniper berries. To Riverclan, they're a sign that the meadow in their Lake territory is healthy! Before that, they were mysterious, seen more like spirits than anything, and a sign that Starclan was watching the land by bringing its grass blades to life. To Windclan, they are valued for their resilience, and their willingness to battle despite size... It's relatable to them! If Windclan had movies, they'd be the underdog hero.

Grasshoppers - Snacks! Food! Yummy! Favorite food of Featherpelt, who loves frying some up and dipping them in blood gravy. Oh yeah... We use cooking too, but MUCH more recent in Clan history! Riverclan turns up their noses though, they refuse to eat them, but Shadowclan cats will slather them in vinegar. Grasshopper in general are associated with an old story, one that only Skyclan knows now from their old days. Their very first leader learned how to jump from a large Grasshopper, but when it tried to take her place as leader of Skyclan, she jumped high and swatted it off the high branch, breaking it into lots of little Grasshopper babies. Grasshoppers now have no idea what happened, but catching them is still a point of pride!

Snails (I know they're not bugs but you try telling cats that) - Snails! Their shells are collectible, and sometimes a very hot commodity in Shadowclan and Skyclan! There are stories of giant snails that cats can ride the shells of, and paint with pigments, meaning little painted shells are worth even MORE. The name Snail is meant to inspire peace and thoughtfulness.

Clams/Muscles - Riverclan food! Lots of Riverclan Cats learn to dive down into the river and part of the ocean when they take trips down there, all with the hopes to grab some yummy creature (and hopefully find a pearl!). Cats guard the ones they catch, and they're heavily prized for the possibility that they may hold a pearl. There are Legends about hunting parties that managed to save Riverclan from starting to death by diving down into the depths of the river to grab lots of them. Part of Riverclan mythology is the legend of a gigantic clam that resides in the river that an ancient Leopardclan warrior stashed a giant rainbow coloured pearl inside of to guard...

Crabs (also yes I know) - Beach bugs! A very lovely treat that cats will go to Sundrown Place to get along with salt! Just make sure to bring a basket, so you don't get pinched! Berrynose finds this one out the hard way. They're a delightful food and they're shells and pincers are often kept and traded! Riverclan has now become the lovers of all seafood, and will trade you whatever you like in return for a big crab.

Flies - Flighty around others, but brave enough to withstand sickness, often mate with those huge roaring dragons in the sky! Helpful as well, they point out sick prey or rotting meat. Cherryfall named Flykit the way she did because she feels that they're incredibly important, and wanted her tiny daughter to feel special. Flystar of Skyclan was Honor Titled the name Fly- for their ability to pick our bad prey, saving the Clan from a major outbreak during a very dark time when every other Clan was experiencing a Plague.

Dragonflies - Seen as the gorgeous offspring between flies and Dragons (airplanes) due to their shape, they're associated with grace, beauty, still water, and growing plants. There are however, stories of Dragonflies managing to become massive beasts, joining their dragon parent in the sky... Dragonfly from the Kin gets a huge reputation boost for being cool because of it.

Beetles - Icewing's favorite creature, if you let her, she'll talk your ear off about how pretty they are, their lovely smooth shells, how much she loves the ones with horns... All that. They are seen as very beautiful by the Clans, and I'm pretty sure some apprentices keep beetles in little hideouts to watch them... Or make the horned ones fight because kids will be kids. Icewing and Mintwhisker were big fans of beetle fights, and named Beetlewhisker after the beetles they bonded over as apprentices.

Worms - Lot of different opinions! Though, Thunderclan has a very very sore spot concerning worms. You'll have to forgive them, they're not the type to let things go. Since the move to the lake, things have gotten better, but stories about The Great Hunger are still cause for many cats to very much dislike worms. They'll happily trade them off to Riverclan. Bait in exchange for duck feathers and the occasional egg.

Speaking of, Riverclan LOVE worms. Not to eat, no, but for bait! Not many fish can resist a wiggly worm!

To Windclan, they're kinda seen as annoying. I'm borrowing Tunnelbuns from Bonefall, and a worm getting into your tunnelbun is the WORST.

For Shadowclan, many apprentices try and catch them to put them in frog-filled areas to fatten up frogs for an easier future catch. Doesn't always work, but it keeps them entertained and it's fun to watch!

Crickets - The snack you dare your friends to try. Cool! Weird! A bug that SINGS! Myths linger about a cricket that managed to learn to speak, and gave a sign from Starclan to an old Lionclan cat to save his leader. Cricket songs are enjoyed heavily, and Crickets going quiet is cause for deep concern. It happens right before the Great Battle. The silence is still a... Tough to talk about moment.

Spiders - Skyclan and The Forest Four have very different views!

To the Forest Four, Spiders have a bit of a tough rep. They're eeire, but the cobwebs they make are so, so useful. Plenty of cats have a fear of spiders, such as Cloudtail, Owlwhisker, and Mossyfoot. They're seen as very pragmatic, and Spiderleg was named for his very spider-y body, but also his will to live, and his strength, especially when he was a tiny kitten, and needed his extra leg amputated due to the pain it was causing.

To Skyclan: A tragic symbol of the final leader of old Skyclan. Spiderstar made the final call, like a dying mother spider, to cast off remaining cats of Skyclan out into the Twolegplace. They are seen as beautiful, intelligent, and protective. Spiderstar is often called upon for a blessing when a cat goes on a quest, in hopes they will still come home afterwards. Pebbleshine frequently prays to her, as does Violetshine. They both love spiders as a result.

Ticks - Bad! Awful! Makes cats sick! Hurts and itches! These things caused a terrible Plague during the Homebrew story Wishstar's Abyss, and she used the cover of the sickness to poison the current leader. They need to be dealt with ASAP. Removed with prey bones or carved sticks, mouse bile is a Shadowclan exclusive seasoning once cooking is discovered.

Bees - Seen as less of a threat than their Wasp counterparts, but still creatures to be a bit weary about! They do not take kindly to stealing. The Legend of The Bee is very similar to the old myth in our world about them! A large bee presented Starclan with sweet honey, and Starclan was thankful. When Starclan asked the bee how she managed to make enough to share with everyone, the bee laughed and stated she would attack anyone who tried, that Starclan cats were lucky to have gotten a taste. Starclan cursed the bee, while she was given an incredible weapon to defend herself, it would kill her if used. Since you're able to harvest from bees without getting stung (so long as you remain calm) the Bee name is often associated with quieter, more strategic cats.

Bumblebees - These are seen as SIMILAR to bees, but not quite! They do still sting, but how could something so differently shaped and so very fuzzy be the actual same thing? They're also called Bumbles, making Bumble a suitable prefix (not that it wasn't already from Bumblestripe!) Shadowclan celebrates a Bumblebee Festival, where many Pollen rich flowers are gathered and placed in the middle of camp to attract bumbles near the end of Greenleaf!

Wasps/Hornets - These are actually seen as the same thing! Just different ranking. Since it's known that bees swarm, the Clan cats see these as higher ranked bees. Think apprentices vs warriors. Same THING, different rank. Waspwhisker's name is an indication of his strength in battle (and in being a good tracker, hence the suffix).

[fallingstarsau]

Star Leafpool AU:

————

Some context for this AU!

Medicine cats -> Herbalists

-star suffix for leaders -> Star [Insert Leader name here.]

LGBTQIA+ cats exist! Whoa! What a wild idea /sarcasm.

More minor roles, IE Head of the Nursery, Patrol Head, etc.

————

The idea for this AU is that instead of running away with Crowfeather, Leafpool decides to stay for another few days… and when the badger attacks, Firestar is permanently killed, luring the badgers away from camp. Cinderpelt is also gravely injured, but able to live for another 4-5 minutes. In this AU, herbalists are seen as secondary leaders… with the idea that if both the Leader+Deputy die, they can take over. If you remember the second half of TNP, a deputy isn’t accepted till after Sunset… thus thrusting the role of leadership onto Leafpool.

[That, and a prophecy that I’ll explain more about later.]

So! Leafpool is thoroughly traumatized TM, and now has to deal with a grieving, unstable, angry clan. Something that Brambleclaw resents her for.

I mean, after all, it would be the best thing for her to step down! She’s an inexperienced Herbalist. He would obviously be a better candidate- he’s a mature warrior, and he went on the sundrown trip! Or, at least, that’s what he thinks.

And whoopsie! Leafpool is still pregnant… but no one but her knows if it was before or after she became leader. So. There is that.

I’ll post more about this tomorrow-

[bodacious-energizedprotodermis]

without having done any research, I'm gonna guess that Jayfeather was the first of the Three to have his powers fleshed out by the writing team. his powers feel like a natural continuation of Leafpool's own powers (psychic bond with Squilf where they sense each other's emotions, and sometimes their thoughts, can enter the Dark Forest on her own, saw Brambleclaw's dreams on her own seemingly without StarClan knowing).

How could Jayfeather not have the power he has? It's in his blood. I also think him and the others losing their powers is fucking stupid

read more for my headcanon ramblings of 'connection with StarClan'/'having some kind of power/destiny' is inheritable, so if a cat with a great destiny (a leader, a medicine cat, a cat involved in prophecy) has children, this power/influence on destiny can grow with each following generation

Firestar - has had prophetic dreams since his kittypet days. When he shares this fact with Cinderpelt, she says something along the lines of it being an unusual trait. At the time this was written, dreams from StarClan tended to only be sent to cats actively seeking a closer bond with StarClan through service (medicine cats, Clan leaders).

Leafpool & Squirrelflight - can sense each other's emotions and, to some extent, sense each other's thoughts. They can even sense what the other is tasting! (Squirrelflight is also one of the cats who received the dream to go to the Sundrown Place, arguably one of the most consequential prophecies at this point in the series, which is not directly tied to Jayfeather but still fits into this trend.)

Leafpool - has a limited ability to go into the Dark Forest on her own, and see into other cats' dreams. She follows Brambleclaw into the Dark Forest in New Prophecy (and chooses to not tell anyone, LEAFPOOL WHAT THE F-)

Jayfeather - has an incredibly strong ability to sense other cats emotions, most of the time without intending to (this leads to him wanting to be alone most of the time, he is constantly aware of what others are feeling, especially when it's directed at him!). He is also able to sense the thoughts and intentions behind the emotions of cats who are awake, though the extent to which he is able to seems to depend on the individual cat and the emotions they are feeling at the time (for example, wariness or fear are sometimes described by him as being "thorny barriers" that he cannot sense past). It is easier for him to read the minds of cats who are asleep - by entering their dreams. He can also go to the Dark Forest on his own.

To me, this shows a trend of an ability/influence on destiny growing with each successive generation.

How does Dovewing fit into this direct descendant scheme, you might ask? Well. I'm not there in my reread journey yet.

However. It all leads back to Jake. It's late so pardon me while I go off the rails

It's not the connection to Firestar that matters, not just being kin with him. Oh no. It's being Jake's kin.

Although Jake is outside the scope of my current progress of my reread, if we included him in the list it would look like this: Jake - befriends Pinestar, and welcomes him when Pinestar becomes a kittypet. Also befriends Talltail/star, and convinces Talltail to not carry out revenge against Sparrow. No powers to speak of, but arguably has had a not-small impact on the destinies of two major figures in Clan history. Also fathered Scourge, another cat with a major destiny who lived outside of Clan life yet directly impacted it.

Jake is the guy. The one who started this major lineage of cats who are inextricably linked into shaping the destinies of the Clans. They are cursed by Jake's legacy, that innate ability to shape the world around them. And like Jake, the way they shape the world around them can have major future consequences for many cats.

It also links into how the destinies of Jake's lineage and Pinestar's lineage are intertwined. (Catch me later when I finally write down my thoughts on Squirrelflight's and Brambleclaw's destinies being explicitly described by the narrative as being intertwined for the rest of time) Jake helped Pinestar adjust to kittypet life. While he wasn't the reason Pinestar left Clan life, he was still involved in something that changed Tigerclaw forever. Jake also fathered BOTH of the cats that killed Tigerstar, Scourge (in life) and Firestar (in death)!

Or it's just StarClan doing some good old-fashioned nepotism. But this post isn't about that!

[mothdapple]

Hi! I found you through Shaken Roots, and the rewrite is amazing! You are extremely talented to have written it! A few questions/theories I’ve developed: Is Stormfur going to end up joining the tribe, and will we still be seeing him in the second half of the rewrite? Brook has character now, and might end up choosing to go with Stormfur? Also, will you diverge much from the canon plot line, or will the series follow the original’s plot. Bonus question: WHY is there Suicide Attempt in the tags?!?

hi!! I’m so happy to hear that you’ve been enjoying Shaken Roots!

I’m going to be vague about the Stormfur and Brook questions since those are plot points that will be revealed in later chapters in Shaken Roots: Dawn, and I don’t want to spoil it! I will say that Stormfur will still appear in some capacity in the second half of the rewrite. :)

For your more general question about how much the rewrite will follow the plot in canon or diverge— the answer is sort of both. My main inspiration for Shaken Roots was to take the interesting concepts of characters and plot beats in TNP and try to bring out their full potential that I felt like canon stumbled with.

So looking at the first two books, you can see that in broad strokes, the plot is the same between canon and Shaken Roots, in Midnight and Moonrise. In short, the plot of Midnight is about the six chosen cats finding the sundrown-place, and the plot of Moonrise is about them aiding the Tribe with fighting Sharptooth. But I also added a lot that wasn’t in canon— in SR: Midnight Crowpaw’s spiritual journey of opening up to and bonding with the other chosen cats (and thus acting like a model for the clans later to follow) is just as important as the physical journey the group goes on to the sundown-place to get the news from Midnight. And in SR: Moonrise, Feathertail’s spiritual journey of healing from her trauma of TigerClan and learning to trust and forgive again is just as important to the plot of that fic as fighting Sharptooth. You can expect the remaining fics to fall along similar lines.

To use a metaphor, the skeleton of the story is the same between canon and Shaken Roots, but everything else from the connective tissue, to the skin color, to the eyes, may be different.

As for your final question, it’s a scene from Shaken Roots: Dawn, chapter 8, so I will put it below the cut just in case you aren’t there yet and don’t want spoilers. (And I’m also putting it under the cut because obviously CW here for mentions of suicide attempt.)

It’s when Crowpaw deliberately runs out in a road in front of monsters knowing that it may seriously injure or kill him. It’s based off of a scene in Dawn, albeit in canon what happens is that Crowpaw tries to run out in front of tree-destroying monsters in the forest, and Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw are the only ones there to stop him. So the scenes are different but both feature Crowpaw purposefully trying to hurt or kill himself. No one in canon or in Shaken Roots call it a “suicide attempt” in verbatim, but in my opinion, that is pretty obviously what it is, and with that being such an understandably sensitive subject, I tagged it as such.

[booksofstars]

au where the clans settled at the sundrown place instead of the lake

[the-starry-pool-au]

Intro:

Hello! I am Void, the creator of the @fallingstarsau. I use they/them pronouns. This blog is an ask blog- about the Starry Pool AU.

Some context for this AU!

Medicine cats -> Herbalists

-star suffix for leaders -> Star [Insert Leader name here.]

Ie Star Fireheart.

LGBTQIA+ Representation.

More leadership roles are established- There is a Head of Patrolling, a Head of the Nursery, and a Head of the Training.

+— Plot —+

The idea for this AU is that instead of running away with Crowfeather, Leafpool decides to stay with Thunderclan… and when the badger attacks, Firestar is permanently killed when he lures the badgers away from camp. Cinderpelt is also gravely injured, but able to live for another 4-5 minutes. In this AU, herbalists are seen as secondary leaders… with the idea that if both the Leader+Deputy die, they can take over. If you remember the second half of TNP, a deputy isn’t accepted till after Sunset… thus thrusting the role of leadership onto Leafpool.

So! Leafpool is thoroughly traumatized TM, and now has to deal with a grieving, unstable, angry clan. Something that Brambleclaw resents her for.

I mean, after all, it would be the best thing for her to step down! She’s an inexperienced Herbalist. He would obviously be a better candidate- he’s a mature warrior, and he went on the sundrown trip! Or, at least, that’s what he thinks.

And whoopsie! Leafpool is still pregnant… but no one but her knows if it was before or after she became leader. So. There is that.

The asks timeline will start before Leafpool’s first gathering as leader! Feel free to ask away!

[troutfur]

For the prompts, Ash and Fern Augur AU, with Ferncloud's reaction to Squirrel snubbing her brother?

Fair warning for this one that Ferncloud is going to be portrayed as really, really xenophobic and classist. But that's kind of a given with Augur AU. Whenever I write Augur AU whoever ends up being the augurs by design adopt those opinions regardless of who it is. As I've said previously, it's an Arthurian romance not a Robin Hood ballad.

So, let's see where this takes us.

(Want your own chance at getting your prompt written? Check out my guidelines and submit one! I'm taking prompts up to the last day of the #CalmWrimo2023 challenge which is the 30th. Even if I have enough for the month I still like having more choices to pick from.)

Squirrelflight lay down on the patients’ nest inside the augurs’ den as she clutched her stomach. Whatever she’d eaten was absolutely murdering her right now. Since sunrise she’d had no appetite and now by low sun the growing discomfort growing inside her stomach had become unbearable. Beside her Ferncloud was riffing through her stores and preparing some kind of herb packet for her to eat, and surely a few doses she would be prescribing her.

The atmosphere between them was tense. She’d not brought it up but Squirrelflight could tell Ferncloud was not really pleased by the fact her brother had stopped sharing her nest and slept alone now.

The usually gossipy queen had been quiet, and as of the last few days she kept glaring at her from across camp. The treatment was not new to her, both her and Leafstep had grown up recieving it from the patricians of other Clans they met at the gathering or during the Great Journey. And it only gotten worse since those stuck up cats caught wind that her participation in the Sundrown Place patrol hadn’t technically been condoned.

But this was not really behavior that she expected out of ThunderClan patricians, even someone as prickly as Spiderleg. For better or worse more than a former kittypet’s daughter, low in birth as they come, in their eyes she’d always been Firestar’s, their glorious leader’s, daughter. The treatment from ThunderClan’s matriarch had even seemed to embolden her and Spiderleg’s mates in their own condescension.

“There,” Ferncloud said with an icy tone, sliding the packet of herbs once she was done. “Swallow it whole.”

Squirrelflight squinted at it as she took a whiff of the smell. She guessed asking for some honey to help it go down easier was out of the question. She forced it down her throat, the bitterness permeating every tastebud as she struggled not to gag. Once it was down she licked at her teeth, trying to dislodge whatever particles remained between her teeth to spit them out.

“Thanks Ferncloud,” Squirrelflight said with a nod as she prepared to leave.

“Sit back down,” Ferncloud ordered as she moved to block her passage. “There is a conversation we ought to have. I figure you must already know don’t you?”

Squirrelflight sighed. “Look. What happened between Ashfur and I... I just didn’t think he’d be the tom for me. I don’t think it’s something worth your attention.”

“I’ll say what’s worth my attention,” Ferncloud stated. “And one of the things that’s worth my attention is that you thought you were too good for a patrician.”

“Ferncloud, that’s not--”

“What’s worth my attention,” Ferncloud said louder. “Is that I think you and that sister of you are growing arrogant. That I think you are forgetting your place in this Clan, loners. I know Ashfur. He may be a little smothering, too eager to please, lacking in good judgement even. But for a patrician like him to extend not only the gift of his trust but his affection and for you to toss him away like that?”

“I didn’t toss Ashfur!” Squirrelflight defended herself. “We ended--”

“We?” Ferncloud said indignant. “By how devastated Ashfur has come to me it seems unlikely there was a we that ended this relationship.” With her tail lashing behind her, Ferncloud fixed Squirrelflight with a harsh glare. “I really shouldn’t have trusted that a friendship between my kits and you would have ended well. Not only does your blood already predispose you to this, I allowed you far too much access to the world of the patricians.”

A tense silence hung between them. Squirrelflight wanted to scream at the freckled gray queen that she was completely wrong, that she wasn’t being arrogant or stubborn or whatever else she wanted to project onto her. But the words failed her at that moment from how ridiculous the accusations were.

“Go now,” Ferncloud instructed as she stepped out of the way. “I am going to deal with this as needed. But for now just know: ThunderClan’s patricians are not going to be treating you the same ever again.”

With that, Squirrelflight tipped her head in a gesture of departure and maneuvered down the slope and away from the augurs’ den.

[shadestar413]

Honestly if (redacted) doesn’t win imma make ‘em a false prophet sort. A lil cult as a treat

[bonefall]

Trip to the Lake: REDUX

I have been re-planning how cats move between the Lake, Mountain, and Forest for a long while. Since @halogenwarrior​ asked some specific questions about it this morning, I finally sat down and made a 1st draft of the Between-the-Territories map, and a quick guide to the Sundrown Patrol’s Expedition.

NOTE: this is still a rough draft. SkyClan’s territory wasn’t included because it isn’t relevant at the moment, and Midnight’s den is nondescript beach as I’m still working out what it looks like in the revamp... since Midnight is a god now, and should have a cooler den.

(also i considered casually ‘revealing’ this is a world totally unlike our own by having the sun set in the North instead of the West at one point but im not that funny... yet.)

[ID: A map of the territory between the Warrior Cats ‘forest territory’ and the ‘lake territory’, including several landmarks. A Beach and an Unknown Town are labelled purple. The Tribe Land and its Stone Ward, Cave Ward, and Valley Ward are marked in blue. The Mouth of River Chell and Mothermouth are marked in red. The bottom of the map is marked “FARMS” in a purple box. The top of the map is marked “LAKE” in green.]

The Tribe’s waterfall feeds into nearly every waterway in the area at some point, and the Lake is the northernmost point between them all. Just above the forest territories is farms. There is now a sizable wetland below the lake territory, at the base of which is the Tribe’s third settlement, the Valley Ward.

In that wetland is probably more farms, roads, factories, and various types of human structures.

Travel time has been given hard definitions; it takes an adult warrior, traveling alone at maximum reasonable speed (not marathon-running), a full week to go from the Mothermouth to the Lake. That’s two weeks for a round trip.

This journey becomes longer with multiple traveling cats, or cats who don’t know the way. In addition, a lone warrior will have a harder time hunting in the unknown land and be more exposed to the dangers of the wild.

An adult warrior, traveling alone at maximum reasonable speed, takes 2 days to reach the beach. Going to the town is easier; that trip takes a little over a day. Round trips double the time, more cats are slower but safer.

So let’s take a look at the new Sun Drown Patrol Roadmap!

[ID: The same picture as above, but grayed out in color with red dots marking the journey of the Sun Drown Patrol over the TNP journey. They start at the Mothermouth, go north to the Lake, then go west to the Beach, go southeast and hit the Tribe Lands, and end in the Farms.]

Set-up Changes:

The beginning of the journey is a bit different and there are some changes to Bonefall TNP as opposed to Canon TNP worth noting;

Bonefall TNP is split between the perspectives of the Four Tigerkin; That’s Tawnypelt, Brambleclaw, Hawkfrost, and Mothwing.

Tawnypelt is the new leader of the Sundrown Patrol.

Crowpaw is a full warrior before going on this journey. His name was Crowfoot, he requests -Feather as an Honor Title.

Gods are real now; Sharptooth and Midnight are deities for Summer and Spring respectively.

They are starting this trip at the Mothermouth

Bonefall TNP: The Sundrown Patrol’s Expedition to the Lake

StarClan no longer sends them to the ocean. They sent them directly North, to the Lake.

Something happens that sends them on a detour west, to the Sundrown Place. I’m not sure what it is yet; I’m thinking it could be Fallen Leaves (is now Time Travel Hollyleaf) appearing to be a StarClan warrior and completing a time loop, or, Midnight creating a false sign to coax them over because she’s a lonely god who wants company.

From the Sundrown Place, they do a little bit of basic geography and realize they need to travel southeast. That’s when they hit the mountain.

There is no more Silver Warrior prophecy. The Tribe cats help the Sundrown Patrol cross the mountain, but recognize they’re long-lost descendants of the ancient Sun Trail Cats. There’s a happy celebration, interrupted by the resurrection of Sharptooth, a god who has plagued the Tribe through history.

The Tribe has killed Sharptooth before and they’ll do it again. They assure the Sundrown Patrol that they will survive... but the Patrol looks at the graves of the cats who helped them cross the mountain, slaughtered suddenly by what they think is a LionClan warrior. They realize that the Tribe will survive, but there’s no way of knowing what individual cats won’t.

(technically Sharptooth is a European Cave Lion but they don’t know that)

The Sundrown Patrol makes a choice; Do they run home to complete their mission, or do they stay and help?

They unanimously agree to kill the beast. The Tribe says they’re family, and this is what family does. A bit of a moment where the cats of the Sundrown Patrol decide THEY are family, as well.

Feathertail, of course, dies. Crowfoot is never the same. Sharptooth will return someday, but when he does, this time he will haunt the Clans... or at least, the Forest Territory they left behind. That part isn’t decided yet.

Because of all the detours, size of the patrol, and fact it was unknown land, the Sundrown Patrol’s Quest takes well over a month.

The Clans leave, together, shortly after. It still takes coaxing from each member of the Sundrown Patrol to get all of the leaders on the same page, but the extra territory-pummeling helps to encourage Blackstar in particular to be less stubborn.

[mud-castle]

Real questions: When does DM!Goldenflower die? Does Firestar’s treatment of Brambleclaw worsen since she’s gone or is he terrified that she’ll descend from the heavens and rip out his entrails for the buzzards?

She dies in TNP right before the journey. It's what kickstarts Bramble's 'actually the clans really suck' arc. Or rather Fire and the clan's reaction to it does.

Fire is entirely unsympathetic towards Bramble after the fact. For the first time, Bramble snaps on him. He's incredibly lucky Fire already had a lot on his plate and doesn't perceive him as a threat, but he's on thin fucking ice after that.

Firestar mostly doesn't want to have to deal with Brambleclaw at all (ngl he was disappointed when he returned from the sundrown place). He's not a threat and he's not of interest, so as long as Brambleclaw doesn't cause trouble, he doesn't care. Though I guess his treatment does "worsen" in Brambleclaw's eyes when Bramble grieves his mother and he gets annoyed by that. But that's more Bramble finally seeing him for who he is.

[moppything]

im thinking about an au for power of 3. it'll instead be power of 5, one cat in each clan (including skyclan). they will no longer be related to firestar and will now be the children of the prophecy cats who journeyed to the sundrown place (brambleclaw, tawnypelt, feathertail, and crowfeather). Midnight the badger is the one who bestowed powers upon these children to assist the clans against the future battle. each cat has their powers based upon another animal's.

dovewing is the daughter of brambleclaw, her extreme hearing and sight resembling the birds eye view of a soaring dove.

lionblaze is the son of tawnypelt and rowanclaw (replacing tigerheart), like the proud and noble lion he is named after, he possesses tireless energy in battle and can endure injuries for longer than the average cat.

jayfeather (now named koiflash, name subject to change) is the child of feathertail. they are able to breathe for much longer than any other cat underwater, as well as being able to influence other cats emotions, particularly enforcing feelings of perseverance.

hollyleaf (name will be changed) is the daughter of crowfeather (now named crowstorm) and nightcloud. im not entirely sure what her power will be yet, but im thinking possibly seeing the future? though it'll only be a limited amount of time ahead. either that or something related to extreme hindsight.

and the final member of the power of 5 is sol. he is not related to any of the sundrown cats, but was blessed by midnight in order to help protect skyclan and to bring them back to the four lake clans. sol is nearly just as flawed as he is in the original books, he cares a lot for gaining power and influence. his name will likely be salamandersun. not sure about his power yet.

anyway that's all I have thought up for the au so far! feel free to ask any questions

[thedo0zyslider]

A place i've been before (I think I died there) - 1k Words

Squirrelflight returns to the Sundrown Place. Two cats follow her there.

One day, Squirrelflight is going to the Sundrown Place again. She doesn't know why, just that something is calling her there, and that she needs to go. Squirrelflight doesn't really tell anyone that she's going either, setting off by herself one afternoon without saying much to anyone. Other than a cryptic I need to go somewhere to Sparkpelt, anyways.

She barley gets off Clan territory before two cats have joined her in her journey. Squirrelflight isn't very suprised, either. She had a feeling one of them, at the very least, would be tagging along sooner or later.

The first is Crowfeather, older than he was on their first journey, but even crankier than he had been back then. More jaded. A more unpleasant tom, not that he had exactly been a pleasant one before.

The second is Tawnypelt. She has changed much since their journey too, but in different ways to Crowfeather. Better ways, even. She's faced more hardships, gotten more experience. The tortoiseshell is much more responsible than she was all those seasons ago. Squirrelflight is, too. She knows that that, at least, is for the best.

Tawnypelt falls into a de-facto leader role of sorts, though her companions don't need it. They are the only three cats who know this path, they know it and all it's dangers like the back of their paws. Tawnypelt leads them anyways, like it's only natural for her to do so. Squirrelflight thinks she should've been leader instead of Bramblestar. She wonders why she wasn't.

As they journey, Squirrelflight realizes how much she missed them. Er, well, how much she missed Tawnypelt. There wasn't much conversation, but the little there was ended up being fun. Enjoyable. It was nice getting away from the hustle and bustle of Clan life, of being deputy, and simply traveling with two cats she knows well.

Her conversations with Crowfeather are either as pleasant as her ones with Tawnypelt, or more sour. They stopped talking to him much, after a few days of unpleasant words being exchanged. It's when Squirrelflight realizes why she doesn't miss him all that much, and starts to wonder why she even did in the first place.

She has never missed Crowfeather, always Crowpaw. Always missed the cat he used to be. Squirrelflight doesn't even like the cat he is now, for so many reasons. All of them taste like bile on her tounge.

She thinks Nightcloud and Breezepelt deserved better. She thinks Feathertail deserved to fall for a better tom. Even if her living might’ve stopped him from being so terrible. She hopes her sikver friend hss moved on. She thinks Leafpool deserved the world, and then a so much more than that. She knows Crowfeather could never have given that to her, no matter how hard he tried.

He hadn’t tried very hard at all.

She still likes this version of Tawnypelt, at least, even if they don't talk as often as they probably should. Or as they might like. The tortoiseshell is her sister in law after all, though her and Bramblestar's relationship is so strained it barley feels like that anymore. She wonders if Tawnypelt feels the same about her own relationship with her brother.

Squirrelflight sighs, pushes the those thoughts away, and keeps on walking. Her paws feel heavier, older, than they ever had before. She pushes that away too, and keeps walking towards the Sundrown Place.

They pass the place where they first met Purdy, so many moons ago. The three of them stop to grieve, and hold silent vigil for a cat long passed. Squirrelflight feels like there will be a lot more of that happening on this trip, especially the more they backtrack. Not everyone had survived the Great Journey, after all, and not everyone had come with.

They pass the Tribe on their way up the mountains, as well. He didn't even stop to visit her grave, rather surprisingly. Crowfeather just keeps walking. Maybe it hurts to much. He asks her about his sons instead. She retorts that her sons are doing just fine. That her and Bramblestar and Leafpool's sons are doing just fine. Crowfeather doesn't say anything to that, and simply moves to the front of the group. Tawnypelt let's him take the lead without any comment.

The three of them arrive soon after that, and Squirrelflight feels like she's nine moons old again. She feels like her actual age, one full of too many season cycles to count, a moment later. The sights still as breathtaking as it was all those moons ago, when she first saw it; waves lapping over the shore and the sun drowning behind them. It's majestic. Squirrelflight never wants to look away. She wished she hadn't the first time.

Tawnypelt sits next to her, tail curled over her paws neatly. She stares out at the ocean, her green eyes hollow. But Squirrelflight knows there's emtions swirling under them, just like they're swirling inside her as well. Tawnypelt's lived through too much, even more than her, to not be getting emotional right now.

"It's beautiful." Is all the Shadowclan she-cat says, her gaze watching the waves. The receed from the shore, leaving wet sand and shells in their wake. Squirrelflight kneads the stone cliff, imaging the feeling of said wet sand beneath her paws once more.

"It's always been beautiful." She mutters back, and glances at Tawnypelt. Her friend does not look back at her, green eyes still casted towards the sea. Squirrelflight can't help but wonder what's going on behind them.

Crowfeather sits on her other side, looking at the sea more despondently than his companions do. He says nothing. There is nothing for him to say. Not anymore. He has said everything he possibly could moons ago

There isn't much speaking done, after that. A lot if sitting and watching the sun drown was done instead. It was such a beautiful sight. So beautiful, in fact, that Squirrelflight got emotional just watching it. And over what she had lost to get to that point, and where her thoughts wandered too in the silence.

Squirrelflight thinks of her kits. She wishes they could've seen this, all of them. There is no point in bringing her surviving ones now. Not when three were already stolen from her. Hollyleaf would've loved it. Juniperkit and Dandelionkit would've been so amazed. She misses them all more every day. The lump grief in her throat is almost enough to choke her.

She wonders if Crowfeather and Tawnypelt would bring their living kits here, or if they feel just the same as she does. Squirrelflight feels more inclined towards them agreeing with the latter option.

She thinks of Feathertail, who has been buried for far too long. Who had died far too young. She thinks of Stormfur. They do not know if he's alive. But they did not smell his scent anywhere near the Tribe's borders. He and his sister were the oldest of all of them. Chances are he's probably gone to join her. She wonders how Brook is doing.

Squirrelflight thinks of Bramblestar. There is no sadness when she does. She expects there to be, but there is not. She thinks of the cat she had fallen in love with, and wonders where he had vanished too and when he had left. She wondered if there had been anyway to keep him, or maybe bring him back.

Something tells her there wasn't, and that it was always going to end this way. Squirrelflight wishes it didn't have too.

She thinks of memories. Of the first time they arrived there. Of how happy all six of them, of how much fun they had all had back. She thinks of laughter and friends that aren't real anymore. She thinks of being nine moons old again.

Squirrelflight closes her eyes for a moment, as she remembers, and wishes she could be back in that moment more than she's ever wished for anything before.

Squirrelpaw runs through the shallow waves, water lapping around her paws. It tastes gross, but she can barely care about that when Feathertail splashes her, getting some in her mouth. All she cares about to splashing the Riverclan she-cat back, laughing as she does so. It's the most fun Squirrelpaw's had in moons. She never wants it to end.

Crowpaw complains about how loud it is here, and then Tawnypelt pushes him into the water. She laughs, and tells him to lighten up a bit. Stormfur joins her in teasing the Windclan apprentice, giggling when his fur fluffs up. He's absolutely soaked. Tawnypelt says he looks like a drowned rat from the Carrion Place. Crowpaw just hisses, no malice behind it, and tries to make them both look like drowned rats as well.

Feathertail splashes Squirrelpaw again, and then drags Brambleclaw into their playfighting. He's caught off gaurd, but quickly retaliates. Especially when Squirrelpaw tries to knock him over, and soak him in the salty water. Her clanmmate just taunts her, and says she'll be easy to drown. Squirrelpaw sticks her tounge out at him, and dares him to try. Feathertail laughs behind them.

Birds they've never seen before fly over head, calling out to each other as the cats below them play. Tawnypelt gets Squirrelpaw to gang up on her brother with her, something that doesn't take much effort at all. Stormfur and Crowpaw keep trying to one up each other, their games getting increasingly ridiculous. Feathertail is doing her best to sneak attack everyone with water, laughing and running through the waves. She says she finally feels at home again. It's the last time she will ever feel that way.

They play until the sun sets, and then watch for a second time as it drowns in the very water they'd been having fun in. Brambleclaw finds them somewhere to sleep, and all six cats collapse into a soaking wet pile. Squirrelpaw finds herself snug against Crowpaw, the warriors surrounding the both of younger cats, just as they always do when they sleep in possibly dangerous places. The protection is sweet, and makes affection swell inside her. Even if Squirrelpaw is fairly certain she could protect herself.....

Squirrelflight catches sight of where they'd sheltered that night, where he had cuddled next to cats now long gone and an apprentice she now loathed. It still looks like there's six sets of paw prints there, forever frozen in time. Just like Squirrelflight wishes she was.

She wonders where all the times gone.