#thinking of bluestar and the choices she made and why she made them

[ginzuras]

still thinking abt the ashfur redemption au if anyone was wondering

[bonefall]

my partner pointed out that “never love an anchor” by the crane wives is (probably) about giving a child up for adoption and feeling guilty about it while knowing it was the right thing to do . and now i Cannot stop thinking about poppyfrost looking at dovewing and ivypool from across the camp, or bluestar at stonefur and mistyfoot at gatherings, while it plays in the background. oough.

“do you ever think of me / and my two hands / and wonder why they never soothed your fevers? / and wonder why they never tied your shoes? / and wonder why they never held you gently? / and wonder why they never had the chance to lose you?”

You should check out the animatic someone made of Bluestar to the song! It totally fits her. I think someone else is attempting a full MAP of it too, but I can't find it with a cursory search.

But absolutely, I think about it with BB!Poppyfrost all the time... I feel with canon!Bluestar and BB!Bluestar, it was more than just her own choice. She wasn't incapable of raising a child, the way the song implies, with the singer focusing on her personal shortcomings and the fact she sees HERSELF as an anchor from which the adopted child is being severed.

I think it's too bad that in the fandom like... the desperation of getting the kittens out of the Clan is often overlooked. Knowing Sunstar will not choose a nursing queen as his deputy, the frothing SADISM of Thistleclaw when he talks about how much he wants to shred outsiders to bloody bits, knowing that people she loves (including those kittens) will die in his bloody battles... just like Snowfur did.

Instead, the sadness of giving up her children is what people are interested in. That's understandable, but at the same time, I kinda yearn for more variety in how people look at Bluestar.

But BB!Poppyfrost TOOOTALLY fits "Never Love an Anchor..." the way she did it exactly because she didn't want to be raising kittens alone, though Queen's Rights would have allowed it. How she asked Cinderheart to take them with Lionblaze so she could still access her kittens, even though Cinder was courting Hollyleaf. How that caused Hollyleaf to snap, an even bigger situation to spiral out of control.

And after ALL OF THAT, ALL she put everyone through, the lengths that Lion and Cinder went to... she chickened out and was barely involved anyway.

How she moved on with Berrynose almost immediately after Honeysnake dumped him...

It’s a secret I keep tucked inside my chest With this heart of mine that's guilty not remorseful There is love that doesn't have a place to rest But it would have buried you if it had settled on your shoulders

And the way that, even after seeing all this chaos she caused... she's guilty but not remorseful. She doesn't sit around thinking about it long enough to imagine what she would have done differently. What would be the point of that? When she can't change it anyway?

She is avoidant. Severely so. But you can't avoid it when you live in the same camp, not very well at least. Even if you don't talk to them or have them cut off, you do see them every day. So she spends that time out in the Garden.

I'm fond of her lmao, girls with problems my beloved

[kestreljaylover]

My Top 10 Favorite Warrior Cats.

Cinderpelt was the main source of entertainment and enthusiasm in book 2, and 3 and I love that! She would have made it higher is the authors (don't remember the name, and too lazy to look it up) didn't kill her off so soon. Twilight was so annoying, the entire book was terrible, and I was so sad when she died. And her disability was very terribly written. She broke her leg by a car, and she can't be a warrior anymore. I would discuss about it all day long, but I need to move on to #9.

I love our little fruit loop! I mainly love Tallstar's character because of his Super Edition. Tallstar's Revenge is my favorite Euper Edition of all of warrior cats. The characters in the book got stuff done for once. (I don't remember all of the super editions, it has been a long time since I read them). And his little relationship with Jake is super cute! I met someone at a library and she doesn't like Tallstar x Jake. She was a homophobic, and I hate homophobes. She just make me angry, so I never talked to her again. Anyway, I just thought the bowtie idea was cute, and I decided to put that in.

I really love frostpaw because I can relate to her issues, but I think she was like a reboot of Shadowsight. Which Shadowsight was fine, no problem with him. I think frostpaw is just a cute name in general. I have never drawn her before, so i had to some up with grays on the spot. Anyway the next one!

Now we got some of the best kitties in my eyes! Ravenpaw was my favorite characters in the books before someone else came along that will be in #1. But he was basically the start of the series besides Firestar. Think about it, he tells him what happened with the Tigerstar situation. Firestar would have never known if Ravenpaw didn't spill the truth. And I think him moving to the farm was probably the best thing that has happened to him. Barley is not my favorite, it is just that I wanted to draw them. Next one!

Honestly Lightleap is probably the best character in arc 8 because she is so entertaining and snarky. The best type of character. And she caused a lot of drama which I love. It sucks that she has not been there much in book 3 and 4 of A Starless Clan.

She was supposed to be #4, but I forgot I didn't do 5, so instead of thinking more, I just put her there. Briarlight is the only good cat in her family. Mille is very mental, Blossomfall is very bad, and is very.... dramatic? I don't know how to describe it. Graystripe who i don't know what is going on in his head, and Bumblestripe who obsessed with a girl who doesn't want him. Briarlight is the sweetest cat and her death in the fourth or fifth book in AVOS was very sad. I love her friendship with her best friend, Jayfeather. (Yes, best friend! Jayfeather is gay in my head! I don't care if he loved Half Moon). Briarlight is just great! Love her!

Don't really have a reason to put her up here. Maybe I am just obsessed with the name i gave her. I was gonna switch her and Briarlight out, but oh well. I mainly like first arc Bluestar not her super edition (I mean, who does like her super edition)? I just like calling her Queen of the double wide.

Here's Dovewing! My baby! I am happy to put her here on this list! I really don't understand why some people hate Dovewing. She is a great protagonist, and a good mom as well. And also I feel bad for her because she was forced to be with him (Bumblestripe) for a while because of peer pressure. But I am glad she made to choice to get out of the pain.

AAAHHH! SQUIRRELSTAR!!! SHE'S HERE! I have been waiting for 4 years for this. She is basically just like me. (Except the shortness! I am not short). I do what is right, but I don't need approval from anyone. Honestly her husband is a dickhead, so I am glad he stepped down. I wished he would have died though.

JAYFEATHER! HE IS MY FAVORITE KITTY EVER! Does anyone need to explain why he is some people's favorite? Well I do. I can relate to him because everyone is an idiot! The books make them really dumb sometimes, and points out Jay's blindness. And guess who points this out? Jayfeather! He is my favorite for that reason. He is grumpy, but has a valid reason for it. And I can't get myself started on his boyfriend. He is not that interesting, but seeing fanart of Jayfeather and Kestrelflight just makes a smile on my face. (Dusklight for example, go follow them! One of the remaining kestreljay fans, and their work is flawless)! Honestly the sunglasses idea was random. I love a video that someone posted on Christmas day, https://youtu.be/ijd4YaXCjIQ?si=QY8NmE_tV46Yk_8x anyway, that is it. I am tired. :(

[weakestwarrior]

because I always have been and always will be a squirrelcrow truther. (explanation under the cut. warning, it’s kinda long).

first of all, a lot of this is inspired by bonefall’s better bones au. please go check that out first. it contains things I’ll talking about like honor-siring and Queen’s Rights that you may not understand if you don’t.

so. this is a lot, but I’ll generation by generation to explain what’s going on, changes, and things that are the same.

Firestar: Dies at an undecided time. I like pre-Omen of the Stars/The Last Hope but I’m not fully sure WHEN I should kill him off. There’s also the choice of keeping his dead in The Last Hope but that’s boring. He’s mostly the same as canon. He’s also one of Squilf’s biggest supporters (along with Sandstorm and Leafpool),

Sandstar: Firestar’s deputy after Graystripe’s kitty kidnapping. She received Tawnypaw way back when, making her eligible for deputy. As a leader I imagine her similar to Bluestar; always involved in Clan life, going on patrol, watching kittens for queens, and generally not sitting on her ass all day like the Erins love to make leaders do. She’s not shy about speaking her mind, either, but know there’s times it’s best to stay quiet. (Also, Brambleclaw does not get Berrypaw in Po3, he goes to Sandstorm instead. Honeypaw goes to Whitewing.).

Leafpool: No long the mother of the three, she’s still important in supporting her sister when she comes back pregnant from her romp in the beyond. She stand by her sister’s choice to claim Queen’s Rights and not tell anyone the father of her kittens. Squilf does tell her once the three are born, but she’s just as clueless as the rest of the Clan until then.

Squirrelflight: My favorite girl, mother of giants, squilf. She and Crowpaw build a strong bond on the sun-down-place journey, and the two of them remain friends long after it’s over. Brambleclaw abhors their friendship, saying it’s dangerous, and why a stinky WindClan cat, but she’s not listening.

Quick rundown:

Squilf is not interested in either Ashfur or Brambleclaw.

She was close with Ashfur, but only as friends. He refused to see it that way, and was very in love with her. His possessive, controlling nature made her run.

Squilf leaves for her romp with Crowfeather around the same time Leafpool did in-canon.

She tells Crowfeather she thinks she’s pregnant at a Gathering shortly before she finds out for real. After she’s absent from them for moons he guesses (correctly) she’s nursing his kittens.

Squilf clams Queen Right’s, preventing her from having to reveal the Three’s father

Crowfeather: Fell first and extremely hard. Local man was in LOVE. He’s the one who came up with the idea to leave, seeing as they’d never be truly accepted by their Clans. He was terrified of returning home, but WindClan was just happy to have him back. He really wishes he went to ThunderClan to raise his kits, and feel like there’s so much lost time he can never possibly make up. Breezepelt was an honor-sire with Nightcloud.

Before we get into the Three: They all do have powers. Lion has his strenght, Jay has his dreamwalking, and Holly can make cats tell the truth. They all “unlock” these powers at different times. Jay dreamwalked into Firestar’s dream to hear the “kin of your kin”, unlocking his power first. Lionblaze unlocked his power after being made a warrior because of Brightheart’s teaching and guidance. Hollyleaf’s power manafested after Ashfur spilled Squilf’s secret at the Gathering. She demanded, “Why did you do it?” and out came the truth.

The Fire Scene: Doesn’t happen the way it does in canon. Ashfur is between Squilf and her kits, his claws to Jaywing’s throat, saying that if anyone moves he’ll kill him. Ashfur was always of the belief that the kits were Brambleclaw’s, and says he’s clearing the forest of traitorous Tigerkin. Squilf, in a last-ditch effort to save her children, screams out that they are Crowfeather’s. They ran away together, but she knew it was wrong and returned, only to find herself pregnant (which is partly a lie!). This sates Ashfur, and he lets everyone go with the promise that all the Clans will know. The Three are mostly unaffected by the news of their father—Lionblaze always said they were likely to be half-Clan anyways because of Holly and Jay’s wiry builds. They’re more affected by the attempt on Jaywing’s life.

Lionblaze: His mentor is NOT Ashfur, it’s Brightheart. After Ashfur’s horrible treatment of Squilf while she was pregnant, Firestar wasn’t keen on giving his grandson to him. Brightheart tempers him, bring out the courage and strength within while keeping him humble, allowing him to unlock his powers.

Hollyleaf: Her mentor remains Brackenfur, and she never trained as a healer. He instills the ways of the Code in her, even the parts she doesn’t always understand. She unlocks her powers last. She cornered Ashfur on the Gathering island after everyone has left and demanded he tell her why, and he does, the words tumbling out of his mouth like water down a fall. She lives with this for a few days, but cannot shake the rage she feels every time she sees him. He’s found dead on the Thunderpath, but it was clearly not a monster that killed him. After Ashfur’s death and vigil, Holly flees to the tunnels, unable to live in ThunderClan any longer.

Jaywing: Still blind, and never trained as warrior. He was not forced into the Healers’ den, but chose it on his own after talking with Leafpool about the starry cats he often saw in his dreams. Leanded a little too hard on Poppyfrost after Holly ran to the tunnels post-breakdown and got her pregnant.

Alderheart & Sparkpelt: The second squirrelcrow litter! These guys are born at the same time they are in-canon. How did they come about, you ask? Well, before the Great Storm, Crowfeather was actually relaying news to Sandstar about some Twolegs’ dogs that were wondering along the Wind-Thunder border. It was only a light rain when Crowfeather left camp, but was pouring when he made it to ThunderClan. Sandstar offered him to stay, and the rest of Bramblestar’s Storm (now Squirrelflight’s Storm) plays out as normal (not the same due this being an au, but you get the jist).

Poppyfrost: She and Jay had been close since he brought her back from the edge when they were apprentices. Although they remained close their whole lives, Hollyleaf’s fleeing caused them to grow even closer. Poppyfrost was delighted to find out she was pregnant, but terrified considering the situation. Due to the circumstances, she temporarily claims Queen’s Rights...and then never un-claims it.

Dovewing & Ivypool: The poppy/jay kits! Taken in by Lion and Cinder, but “nursed” by Poppyfrost. Poppy's litter “died” right before Lion and Cinder “had” Dove and Ivy. They are completely unaware of their heritage until much later. (I should note that this is bonefall’s idea, and I’m in love with it)

[wc-confessions]

I think fans focus too much on the frequency in which a plot happens or when a story beat is hit (like female characters' plots involving mate and kits or forbidden relationships) that they ignore what the Erins might be trying to say. Clearly the Erins (or at least the original ones left) have some sort of connection to female characters having to make decisions that potentially involve hurting their loved ones or people having to choose between their duty and the love of their life so why not analyze what they're trying to say? Like idk about others but even though Bluestar, Leopardstar, and Yellowfang all have a similar plot that has to do with the men in their lives and choosing between them and their jobs making their lives much more difficult they cover different ways these things get really complicated.

Bluestar ends up having to make a really hard choice after one of the only times she puts her feelings first

Yellowfang is forced out of her family's life by a man who got upset she wasn't willing to drop everything in her life when she found out she was pregnant

Leopardstar's ambitions literally made the decision for her when she couldn't give a man what he wanted.

It seems really unfair to just write it off as bad because its done a bunch of times. Like this is still *they're* story, just because they have a fandom that loves the books doesn't mean they should dismiss the things that bring them joy to write. Why not spend the time actually paying attention to what they might be trying to say? (this should go without saying but obviously, this doesn't go for things like the book's racism and such)

.

[cagedcats]

The possible final part to Starkit’s Reduxify- this one is an odd one.

So this one is a combination of love interest, mentor and father. Weird huh? Let me give you the rundown real quick!

Starkit is made into Starpaw and apprenticed to Firestar, her great grandfather through Jayfeather. Her and Firestar… yeah it gets odd.

So Firestar thinks of how attractive she is. And then next chapter it is outright said- they’re mates. Not only is he in a relationship with his great-granddaughter, but also someone who was just apprenticed three days prior.

It’s weird!

Graystripe is the one who finds this out btw. Only because he wanted to become mates with Starpaw and she had to tell him the bad news.

Starpaw not sure how to handle all of this runs off and into Blackstar (who also confesses his love to her). She runs away again and runs into Jayfeather. Who is rather okay with his teenage daughter being courted by his grandfather and two other dudes triple her age.

If anything he’s happy about it because “people like you” and then tells her it’s her choice. She picks her great grandfather. She doesn’t get to tell him, because Hollyleaf and Tigerstar attacks and becomes leader a day after becoming a Warrior aaaaaaaaand Firestar leaves.

He joins ShadowClan and like his great granddaughter immediately becomes leader because Blackstar died. Graystripe is only mentioned three other times and Jayfeather is stuck in a state of dying and coming back to life for all of eternity.

Now that that’s over with, let’s get to the renames-

Firestar -> Morningspot OR Sparkstripe

He gets two for the reasoning of him leaving ShadowClan and becoming leader.

I’m not certain of whether someone from one Clan can leave to another and become leader. I mean we see with Yellowfang she can become a Seer, but a leader? I’m not 100% certain about.

I did ask and I got smacked with a plant fact. So there’s something we can sit and squint for in the upcoming arcs!

Now Firestar like everyone else isn’t a character. He’s there to make Starkit feel good, and be a supporting character. He can’t win a fight for his life, and is mostly just there. His most notable moments are being A) in a relationship with his great granddaughter (and an apprentice) despite Sandstorm being right there and B) leaving ThunderClan and joining up with ShadowClan

Now I did play with giving him -cloud. Because he does seem like a relatively chill guy. But then I remembered he got in a fight with someone because relationship drama.

He has no morals (he was in ShadowClan and was therefor ‘evil’ to the point of interacting with the antagonists), and he isn’t skilled. He’s a pelt based suffix warrior for sure.

So Morningspot (ShadowClan) and Sparkstripe (ThunderClan) for him.

Of course I’ll probably be going with just one of them. If Sparkstripe, he will be Sparkstar and for sure not in a relationship with Nightpaw. Morningspot though I’ll probably make more her age just to give a Easter egg to the weird relationship shenanigans prior. Though not weird this time.

Oh! But if I go with Sparkstripe I did play with the idea of making him, Waspdusk’s dad maybe? Or somehow related to her.

Greystripe -> Darkbelly

I almost didn’t add him because of how little he is seen. But I decided to anyway.

Greystripe is only seen twice. Once when asking out a literal child, then comforting Blackstar for being rejected a second time, and finally at the very end.

He is switched to Dark- because he is described as a dark grey cat in some cases, and because he is outright described as “funny” I can twist things and give him the -belly suffix.

Once again no relationship between him and Nightpaw/claw. Instead he will be her mentor.

Why? You ask, well it was stated that leaders rarely mentor apprentices. Too much going on. And unlike Bluestar, Sparkstar (or whatever other leader) doesn’t have to take responsibility for bringing in a random kid.

So to Darkbelly she goes. He was probably there to try and make her see the lighter things in life rather then take things so seriously.

Not that it worked, but he tried. And was probably relieved to be free of her once she was made into a Warrior.

Jayfeather -> Cuckoocloud

Now onto Starkit’s father! The medicine cat that is blatantly open about it. It’s brought up once about how cats don’t like it. And never seen or mentioned again.

Starkit Prophecy Jayfeather is the complete opposite of canon Jayfeather. He’s rather laid back, and is someone there to help Starkit in her times of need.

Helping calm her down, and give her advice on what to do.

He is killed by Hollyleaf, revives, and then lives out the rest of his life presumably. I think it’s stated that the death of his daughter was something he had to work to get over? But I can’t remember tbh.

Now I wanted him to be an outsider. First to make him stand out from the other ThunderClanners, but also I like the idea of him being the person really pulling the strings along. I wanted him to guide Nightpaw into being the cat she becomes.

To do away with the old, and replace it with something far different from typical Clan beliefs.

Yes, he’s a Seer. But whoever said it was StarClan he was communicating with? And with Nightpaw’s connection to StarClan, he should’ve picked her as his apprentice. But if she became leader? Well that just helps him move things along.

Of course that’s also partly because I gave him Cuckoo- as a replacement prefix. And of course with his very chill behavior and soothing nature with Starpaw/Nightpaw, the -cloud suffix was easy.

And that’s partly why he’s here. While Morningspot/Sparkstripe was her mentor in the original source, Darkbelly her mentor here- he is the secret teacher who is giving her secret lessons.

And the one she is the closest with.

-

Now this is probably the last one- and I may- MAY start writing down a plot line and writing. But that’s a very big maybe.

I may make one more reduxify of the story. But tbh i think I’ve ran through most of the cats? At least the ones who speak more then once or mentioned only one time. So this is probably the very last one.

But I may make a poll to decide between Morningspot or Sparkstripe. Or maybe just maybe keep both. But that’s unlikely.

[talonslockau]

Fire and Ice - Chapter 17

Chapter 16 || Index || Chapter 18

It had been nearly a half-moon since the fox was first scented in Thunderclan territory. Despite the best efforts of the Clan's top trackers, they had yet to catch the wily creature, the red-furred predator always two steps ahead of those that would drive it off.

Subsequently, the apprentices had been cooped up, eagerly awaiting the news that they'd be released from the confines of the training hollow. Even dawn patrols had become something of a luxury, the chance to get out on the territory outweighing the exhausting time. And as the moon waxed, they had been getting more and more restless for the arrival of the long-promised hunting competition.

By the evening of the Gathering, the tension among the apprentices hung over them like a dark cloud. Even Firepaw was feeling anxious, his pelt crawling as though a hive of ants had descended upon him. And when the last fox-hunting patrol turned up empty-pawed…

"This isn't fair!" Cinderpaw snarled, slashing at the tree stump beside their den angrily. The bark crumpled beneath her claws. "We're all seven moons by now! We don't need to be babysat by a bunch of warriors because of one fleabitten fox!"

Firepaw winced, but he didn't have any way to dispute her feelings when he shared them himself. "What do you think happens now? The Gathering's tonight, after all."

Cinderpaw said nothing, focused on grinding up the bark beneath her claws. After a painfully long moment of silence, it was Graypaw that spoke up. "Maybe we'll all get to go?" He suggested hopefully.

"I'm afraid not." They all looked up to see Tinyfrost approaching. Over the past half-moon, he had kept his word as best he could, and the new apprentice was finally beginning to relax around him. But his words now only made Firepaw's pelt crawl. "I just talked with Bluestar and the other mentors. It's been decided none of the apprentices will get to go."

"They what?" Cinderpaw growled as she turned to Tinyfrost, a snarl on her face. "Why can't we go? Except for Ravenpaw, none of us have been to one!"

The warrior shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry. Bluestar didn't want to bring too many apprentices, with the fox still on the territory, and Quickflash didn't want to look like he was playing favorites with his kits." He sighed sadly as he glanced across the clearing to where the leader and deputy were talking. "I just wanted to tell you all, so the announcement wouldn't come as a shock."

"What about Firepaw? Or Ravenpaw?" Graypaw challenged the mentor. "They're not one of us! They could go and then the four of us would get to stay behind so Dad doesn't have to choose."

Tinyfrost shook his head. "They didn't want to bring an inexperienced apprentice. Their words, not mine." He added, giving the tom a sympathetic glance. "And Spottedleaf didn't want Ravenpaw to journey that far. It wasn't my choice, I promise. If it were up to me, they both would have gone."

Firepaw swallowed, his throat suddenly parched. "I believe you." He admitted slowly. "It's just, first the confinement, then the competition, and now this…"

"I know. I know." His mentor dipped his head mournfully. "I'll see that you get to go next time. I promise." With one last glance, he departed, leaving the apprentices stunned in the wake of his announcement.

"Foxdung to all of this." Cinderpaw suddenly spat from beside the tree. "If Dad doesn't want us to go to the Gathering, then there's no point in staying up. I'll see you all for 'training' in the morning." With that, she disappeared into the ferns of their den.

They sat in silence before Dewpaw stood up. "I should go after her." The molly said aloud, quickly following her sister into the den.

Firepaw glanced at the others as she departed, looking for any sort of explanation. "I know it doesn't seem like it now, but Dewpaw's always been Cinderpaw's favorite." Pepperpaw sighed as she watched the leafy entrance of the den. "Whenever Cinderpaw was in trouble, it was always Dewpaw that helped her out of it."

His ears perked in surprise at that. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed." The few times he'd seen them interact, she'd always seemed to be picking on her sister. "If she's Cinderpaw's favorite, why does Cinderpaw tease her so much?"

Pepperpaw shrugged. "I think it's how she shows affection." At Firepaw's dismissive snort, she shook her head. "No, really! I know it seems weird, but that's just… how she is."

"It's true. Cinderpaw's always been weird." Graypaw stretched out with a heavy sigh, the fur along his back still slightly raised. "Look, Bluestar's approaching the rock. We might as well see who's going, even if it isn't us."

He didn't need to look to picture the silver molly leaping gracefully up to the tip of the Highrock. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" The Thunderclan leader called out, and Firepaw diligently obeyed, even though it felt as though there were weights in his paws as he did so.

"Even as the full moon begins to rise, Thunderclan still is under siege within its own territory." The leader's blue eyes reflected the moonlight as she gazed down at her loyal warriors. "As you all know, a fox continues to run rampant in our territory. For this reason, I have decided that our queens and apprentices will stay behind tonight."

Firepaw glanced over to the queens, who didn't seem surprised or upset with the announcement. Perhaps it had been their decision to stay behind. On the other paw, the elders seemed delighted by the announcement. After being forced to stay home the moon before, he supposed they were glad to be able to go to this Gathering.

Bluestar allowed for a moment of murmuring before continuing. "The warriors that will accompany me to tonight's Gathering will be Patchpelt, Whitestorm, Lionheart, Tigerclaw, Willowbranch, Mistspring and Sandstorm, along with any elders that wish to make the journey."

The called warriors eagerly stood up, clearly excited to leave. Firepaw couldn't help but feel bitter at seeing their excitement. He could be joining them too, if they had done a better job and found the fox by now. But he knew that wasn't fair to them; every warrior in the Clan did their best.

"Clan dismissed." With that, she swiftly jumped off the rock towards the camp entrance. The warriors followed her, alongside Quickflash, Spottedleaf, and all the elders. He turned away, envy welling up within him despite his best efforts.

He startled slightly as Pepperpaw brushed up beside him as they walked back to the apprentice den. "It's okay to be upset, you know." She murmured gently to him. "We spent all this time hyping up the Gathering for you, and now none of us get to go."

Firepaw hesitated at that. "I'm just tired of being cooped up all the time. I guess I should be used to it, but if I'm honest…" He paused, not sure if he should say what he was thinking aloud. "Honestly, some days it's not much better than being a kittypet."

She was silent for several long, painful moments. Just as he was pulling away, afraid to look at her, she finally responded. "I can see that. Twolegs only let their kittypets into their den and their little marked territories, right? If camp is like a den and the hollow is like those territories…"

"Twolegs call them gardens. And yes." Firepaw looked to see she was looking at him with a mixture of sympathy and something else, and he was instantly grateful that she wasn't scolding him outright like he was sure many warriors would. "I mean, we're still out in the wild and we get to eat real prey, but…"

"You can't help how you feel. What matters is what you do with those feelings." Firepaw blinked in surprise at her words. "Mom told me that when I was little and mad at Cinderpaw for something, I don't remember what. But it's true, isn't it?" She nuzzled his shoulder one more time before sitting down. "You've been doing your best not to act on those feelings. I can tell. So in my opinion, you're doing okay."

"What are you two talking about?" Graypaw finally joined their conversation alongside Ravenpaw. It seemed the two had been watching the Gathering party leave. "Are you worried about how you've been doing in the Clan? I wouldn't be. Tinyfrost seems really pleased with you these days."

Firepaw had to smile a little at his friend as the gray tom plopped down beside him. "Something like that." He replied. "It's hard to tell sometimes, with him. And with everything that's been happening, I just wish I could really prove myself."

The other tom nodded solemnly. "I know what you mean. With the fox and everything, we haven't had the chance to get out much, and-" He cut off suddenly, eyes gleaming in the moonlight. "Say, now there's an idea."

The ginger apprentice tilted his head at the sudden change of direction. "What's an idea?" He asked cluelessly.

"We need a way to prove ourselves, right? And none of the warriors have actually caught the fox yet, so what if…" He paused for dramatic effect, "What if we caught the fox for them? We'd be heroes!"

"That is possibly the most mousebrained idea I have ever heard." Pepperpaw was the first to cut into the stunned silence. "We've barely had any battle training, except for Ravenpaw. None of us have ever seen a fox, let alone know how to hunt one. And even if we did, we'd technically be breaking the warrior code by going against the leader's will."

Graypaw deflated slightly. "Okay, but, if we pulled it off…"

"That's a pretty big if." Firepaw observed. "I have to agree with Pepperpaw. Even with all six of us, I don't think we could outmatch a fox."

"You can definitely count me out." Ravenpaw spoke up from the tree stump. "If I got caught sneaking out…" He paused for a moment, as though the words were too heavy to speak. "Father wouldn't be happy with me."

"Fine, fine. I can see I'm outnumbered." Graypaw huffed, looking away with a pout. "It was a great idea, though."

"Mhmm." His sister gave him an amused glance. "Why don't you go get some rest? Maybe you can cook up more great ideas in your dreams."

Graypaw spat crossly back at her. "I will, but only because I want to, not because you told me to." He nudged his friend with a shoulder. "Don't stay out here too late, you hear me? You wouldn't want my sister to turn you into a stick in the mud like her."

"You mean a sensible, smart feline like her?" Pepperpaw called softly after him, but his only response was a dismissive lash of his tail as he disappeared into the depths beneath the ferns. "And so there were three."

"Are you going to join your siblings?" Firepaw asked curiously. "I wouldn't blame you. It's getting pretty late."

Pepperpaw shook her head as she laid down, enjoying her space now that her littermates were gone. "I'm gonna stay up and wait for the Gathering patrol to return. I had to miss it last time, but I'm not on the dawn patrol this time, so I might as well." She sighed almost wistfully. "It's too bad the others won't be here with me. It'd be just like old times."

Firepaw grinned at her. "I'll stay up with you too, how's that? It won't be quite the same, but I like to think I'm good company."

She purred in response. "I wouldn't mind that at all. Thank you, Firepaw." She glanced to the last of the apprentices curiously. "What about you, Ravenpaw? Are you planning on staying up as well?"

The black tom, who had been staring off into the distance, suddenly startled at his name. "I- Uh-" He paused, regaining his composure. "I don't really feel like sleeping. I think I'll just stay out and… uh… watch the stars."

"That's a lovely idea. Much better than Graypaw's fox scheme." Pepperpaw purred, tilting her head up skyward. "What do you think, Firepaw?"

He hesitated for a moment. He knew that to the Clans, the stars meant a great deal more than they ever had to him. And yet, he supposed, it didn't matter if he wasn't looking at the sky in the same way they were, did it? "Yea. I've always enjoyed the night sky." He told her, laying down and tilting his own head back to observe the stars beginning to twinkle overhead.

He had no idea how much time had passed when Pepperpaw suddenly startled next to him. "Do you see that?" She asked him in a rushed whisper.

"See what?" He asked, scanning the now brilliant sky for some anomaly.

"The moon." His eyes moved to the bright orb in the sky, a single cloud drifting across it. "There's a cloud covering it."

Firepaw hesitated, unsure if she was messing with him or not. "So?"

She was silent for a moment, and he had just looked to her in time to see her release an anxious sigh. "I keep forgetting you're not Clanborn. A cloud covering the moon is a warning from Starclan that danger is near. Especially on a Gathering night."

He blinked in surprise at her. "Really? It could just be a coincidence." He hadn't realized they were superstitious about clouds, of all things. What did they do when it rained at night?

She shook her head. "It's not a coincidence. If Spottedleaf was here, she'd tell you the same thing." Her nose crinkled in worry. "Something must have happened at the Gathering."

Firepaw hesitated. "Should we do something about it?" Not that he knew what they could do about it. If anything happened at the Gathering, what could they do about it back at camp?

Pepperpaw shook her head. "No, I-"

"HELP! SOMEBODY, HELP!"

All three of them were immediately on their feet at the shriek of fear echoing through camp. "Who was that?" He asked, unable to quite place the voice. It wasn't Tinyfrost, or any of the apprentices.

"Speckleflight! In the nursery!" Pepperpaw was already charging across the clearing, Firepaw just behind her.

The first to make it to the nursery entrance was Pepperpaw's mentor Dappleshine, the tortoiseshell's fur puffed as far is it could go as she barged into the nursery with no hesitation. Her apprentice quickly followed, with the orange tom right on her heels.

He scanned the large den. In front of him were two thoroughly bushed felines, one bright gold and one pure white; he recognized them immediately as Goldenflower and Frostfur. Behind them was a dappled queen he recognized quickly as Speckleflight, curled protectively over a very large nest. And in front of them…

He took in the long, pale, thin snout of a canine cautiously poking its way into a hole in the nursery. Black paws scratched against the brambles, making the hole wider. And the rest of the creature was a bright red color he knew he'd seen somewhere before.

This was the fox that the warriors had been searching for, right in their own nursery.

He copied the other queens, allowing his fur to bristle and tail to lash as he slowly formed a barrier beside them, a growl emanating from deep within him.

The fox took one step into the nursery before catching sight of the wall of hissing, spitting cats in front of it. He didn't know fox very well, but even he could read the expression on its face; something very similar to 'Oh, foxdung'. Or perhaps, 'Oh, catdung'.

The two sides squared off as the moments trickled by. He could see the fox eyeing the prize behind them, and for a moment he worried that it might somehow get past them anyways. Then Dappleshine lashed out, claws less than a whisker-length from its nose, and it decided that the smart thing to do would be to turn tail and run.

It was with great satisfaction that he watched the white tail tip disappearing into the night. Perhaps the fox had thought that a lone queen and kit were easy prey, but instead it had bit off far more than it could chew and summoned half the Clan to defend Speckleflight and Snowkit.

"Oh, Speckleflight! Are you two alright?" Dappleshine was the first to break the silence, rushing over to nuzzle the nursing queen. He remembered belatedly that she was also Speckleflight's mate, and Snowkit's mother. "Did it hurt you?"

"I think Snowkit is fine, and I am too." The pale golden queen moved aside to reveal a tiny fluffy cloud beneath her. It took Firepaw a moment to find the bright blue eyes within the white cloud to realize it was actually a kit, and not some stray cotton. "When I heard the fox scratching at the walls, I immediately called for you…" She looked up at what was surely half the Clan gratefully. "Thank you, all of you."

"I'm just glad you're okay." Dappleshine purred, her fur beginning to flatten as she began licking their kit's fur. "I don't know what I'd do if it got to you…"

"Not as long as I'm around." Frostfur spat, blue eyes ablaze as she looked over her shoulder to the empty hole created by the fox. "A whole horde of foxes wouldn't be enough to get through me!"

"Of course not, Frostfur." Speckleflight purred as she looked down at Snowkit. "It's okay now, sweetie, the fox is gone…"

Firepaw caught the big eyes of the kit as it stared at him and the others, and he realized with a jolt this was the first time that the kit had seen him. "Maybe he's scared of us." Firepaw joked, looking over to Pepperpaw beside him, whose spine still bristled angrily. "This is only the first or second time he's seen most of us, right?"

Pepperpaw's own eyes widened at his words. "Of course! We should get out and let him calm down." She looked over Speckleflight and Dappleshine, her eyes softening at the two queens. "We'll be right outside if it comes back."

"Of course. Thank you, Pepperpaw." Dappleshine purred to her apprentice, her own face awash with gratefulness. "I'll be with you all in a little."

With that, Firepaw filed out of the narrow nursery entrance, right alongside several familiar faces; Mousefur, Longtail, and Tinyfrost had evidently come to the queens' aid as well.

"A fox in the nursery! What next?" Mousefur was the first to speak. "Shadowclan taking Snakerocks?"

Firepaw stayed quiet as Longtail spoke up. "And during the Gathering, no less, when we were at our weakest. Do you think it knew?"

Tinyfrost shook his head. "How could a fox possibly know that? If it did, it would have also known that the apprentices and half the warriors were still here." He glanced over to the three apprentices that had responded to Speckleflight's call. "Speaking of, you all performed admirably. Just as a warrior should. Your father will be pleased with your bravery, Ravenpaw."

The oldest apprentice shrank under the warrior's words. "Just doing my duty, Tinyfrost." He managed to squeak out.

Tinyfrost's eyes narrowed for a moment before he turned back to the other two warriors. "We're going to need that hole patched before the fox comes back to take advantage of it. Can one of you take the apprentices to gather bramble? Longtail?"

Longtail stiffened. "But what about the fox? We should send a patrol after it! Now might finally be the time to catch it once and for all!"

Tinyfrost hesitated before shaking his head. "We can't risk it. What if it loops around and attacks again? We'll need at least two warriors guarding the hole, and with a warrior protecting the apprentices, that won't possibly leave us with enough cats for a fox-hunting patrol."

The striped tom snarled out at the bramble barrier to camp. "That fox has the worst timing." He growled bitterly.

"Thank you all again." Dappleshine emerged from the nursery, nosing her apprentice as she joined the conversation. "Frostfur and Goldenflower will be guarding the nursery entrance until it can get repaired."

Tinyfrost dipped his head to the queen. "That's good to hear. Maybe you should be the one to take the apprentices out to gather new building materials, so we can repair the walls and strengthen them at the same time."

"Of course. I'd be glad to." Dappleshine looked to Firepaw, Pepperpaw, and Ravenpaw, her eyes still full of worry, before turning back to Tinyfrost. "What will you be doing?"

Tinyfrost hesitated. "Well, if Frostfur and Goldenflower are guarding the nursery, then I suppose-"

"What's going on here?"

Bluestar's voice echoed across camp, and the assembled cats turned to see her striding from the camp entrance towards them, the rest of the Gathering patrol behind her. Both groups stared at each other in surprise, not expecting to see the other at precisely that moment.

"Bluestar! Thank Starclan you're back." Tinyfrost was the first to speak. "A fox broke into the nursery while you were gone. We managed to drive it off, but we didn't have enough warriors to send out a hunting party."

"A fox?" Spottedleaf stepped forward, white patches of fur shimmering in the moonlight. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No, thankfully." Dappleshine answered her sister, stepping forward to greet her. "But you should check on Snowkit and Speckleflight, just in case. Snowkit was very rattled from the whole thing."

"Of course." Spottedleaf agreed, slipping towards the nursery. "If that's alright…?" She hesitated, glancing at Bluestar.

The leader waved a paw dismissively at her healer. "Yes, yes." She stepped forward, blue eyes on Tinyfrost. "When did this happen? Do you think we might still have time to go after it?"

Tinyfrost hesitated. "It's gotten a good head start by now. And with how clever it's been, avoiding trackers in the past…"

Bluestar considered his words. "That might be true, but we still have a good lead. We shouldn't waste it." She looked over the assembled cats. "Mousefur, Tigerclaw, Quickflash, and Mistspring. See if you can track it down."

"Yes, Bluestar." Quickflash stepped forward, and Tigerclaw and Mistspring were close behind him. "Mousefur, you should take the lead. You saw the fox; you should have a good handle on its scent."

"Of course, Quickflash." Mousefur flicked her tail for the patrol to follow her, and they quickly vanished into the nursery, leaving the rest of the Clan behind them.

Bluestar turned back to Firepaw's mentor. "Now then. We'll focus on rebuilding efforts in the morning, when they get back. For now, I want two warriors posted at the hole, in addition to the two warriors already on vigil."

Tinyfrost hesitated. "Goldenflower and Frostfur have already taken posts outside. Unless you want them relieved?"

Bluestar considered the question for a moment, then nodded. "I know Frostfur may not appreciate it, but I'd rather the queens be the last line of defense, rather than the first. Longtail, why don't you and Darkstripe go take over?" She glanced to the black-striped warrior, who nodded and hurried off to find the other dark tom.

"Why are you all back so early? Did something happen at the Gathering?" Dappleshine glanced up to the moon, which had not quite reached its zenith yet. "It's not even moonhigh yet."

Bluestar dipped her head, but it was Patchpelt who was the first to speak. "Brokenstar and Tallstar got into a fight."

"What?" The cats that had remained behind bristled in shock at the older warrior's words.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic." One-eye yawned, pushing her way past the burly warrior. "They had an argument over territory, and Brokenstar tried to attack Tallstar, but Crookedstar stopped him. There wasn't even any blood." The elder flicked her tail dismissively. "Shadowclan was just being a bully, like usual."

"It sounds like it was a bit more than that." Dappleshine observed with an incredulous look. "Did Starclan do anything about it?"

"They sent a cloud to cover the moon." Bluestar dipped her head as she spoke. "That was when the Gathering ended. We returned as swiftly as we could."

"It's good that you did. Perhaps now we'll drive off the fox once and for all." Dappleshine looked to the three apprentices, who had been merely observing the conversation so far. "These three were the first to defend the nursery when Speckleflight called for help. They performed admirably in the face of danger."

Bluestar nodded and dipped her head to each of them. "It is good to hear Thunderclan has such brave apprentices. I'm sure your mentors will be more than pleased to hear it."

Firepaw glowed with pride at the leader's words. Even despite the tumultuous events, it seemed everything was finally going better. And if the patrol managed to drive off the fox that very night…

"For now, you three should get some sleep." Tinyfrost's voice broke through his reverie. "You'll need all your energy for repairing the camp tomorrow. It's been a while since we reinforced the perimeter with bramble, anyhow."

Firepaw groaned internally at that, but nodded. "Yes, Tinyfrost." He stood up, beginning to pad towards the apprentices' den.

"You may also want to tell your denmates that perhaps we will be having a hunting competition after all, with how you three did against the fox." Tinyfrost called after him. It took a moment for the words to sink in, but when they did, he felt a thrill of energy surge through him. By the looks of the other apprentices' faces, they felt the same way.

"First one to the den gets to tell them?" Firepaw suggested with a grin to the other two.

Pepperpaw smirked. "You're on!" With no warning, she bolted ahead of the other two.

"Hey! No fair!" Firepaw called, chasing after her while a purr rumbled up in his throat. For the first time in a half-moon, he felt like things were finally beginning to look up. Maybe, just maybe, everything was beginning to look up after all.

[puppiekit]

Onggg okay I love firestar and sandstorm and this might be too long for a comment

Sandstorm first and foremost.. Is one of the best handled female characters in the entire series to me. I really think that's what I love the most about her.

More specifically: I mean in the sense that the writers do not constantly project traumatic, harmful, or mysogynistic plotlines / ideas on to her.

I have never considered some people might find Sandstorm to be "two-dimensional", but if I had to guess, she might just... Not be tragic enough(?) for the community to take real interest in her. (Some of the most popular female characters... Bluestar, Yellowfang, Squirrelflight, Leafpool, etc... All have expirienced significant trauma + taken the brunt of the writers mysogynistic choices... which is why I assume this...)

My point being I love Sandstorm for the simple fact that she's a good character, with no horrific backstory attached. She's treated with the respect she deserves Nevertheless. She's allowed to have her flaws, and she's allowed to grow in spite of them. She's allowed her sharp tongue and her individuality. She's allowed to beef with her husband and hold her own opinion without it becoming a spectacle, and even when she isn't right, she's never mistreated for it. She's allowed her emotions. She's allowed to be happy and start her own family. She's essentially a well-respected, hard working warrior, who is allowed to live the life she deserves. I love it!

Truthfully... Sandstorm feels like a breath of fresh air, and it's a lot of the other female characters who feel one in the same to me; their whole lives are built from grief and/or tragedy, if not for some aspect of being a she-cat, than just for the simple sake of it. They have to endure something horrible just to, perhaps, be treated with respect by the writers, or with interest by the community. And as much as I ADORE these characters, it does make me sad that, going through something horrible becomes essentially the core part of their character... And I guess Squirrelflight specifically is the main example. The writers seem to never allow her to move past the next horrific life event and it's utterly depressing. Even the fandom never really speaks of her beyond the horrible things she's been put through.

Well anyways I've been rambling and I don't thing I've a actually made a point here. I guess I just love Sandstorm because she's allowed to be happy. And she's allowed to be strong. Her strength is never showcased through her suffering. She's a wonderful warrior, mate, and mother, and she's acknowledged for it. She never has to struggle to be treated the way she deserves. She doesn't make me sad essentially LOL

Edit: also want to add that I LOVE her in firestars quest especially... her relationship with firestar is perfect there. There's conflict, but it never feels *toxic*. Throughout the book Sandstorm feels insecure of her mates bond with Spottedleaf, yet it's never made out to be... irrational of her? As you would expect of the newer arcs. Not only that, but Firestar never gets upset with her for it. He doesn't get mad or defensive. Instead he is confused, and he tells Sandstorm, "I love you, only you, and I want to spend my life with you, and im sorry I ever made you doubt that" essentially. I just UGHHHH I LOVE THEM!!!!!

hey can ppl reblog/reply to this with reasons you love sandstorm. like uh firestar is my all time favourite character so i rly want to like sandstorm cos she is his wife. um i just dont rly see anything in her, just a 2d love interest in the first arc who literally couldve been any other cat. like what moonkitti says when "oh cinderpelt could have told fireheart that it was longtail that is into him and he would have reacted the same" its been a while since ive read the books so uh.... share some moments/ headcanons/ reasons why you like her!! :]

[redux-iterum]

Ok, we all get why you despise Greystripe... but Spottedleaf, Frecklewish, Mistystar, Rootspring?! Why... :'(

You know what? Just for you, I'll give you a brief rundown of my hatred on each character. Enjoy the anger under the cut!

Greystripe: Just...just look through this tag.

Blackstar: I've discussed this here and there, but the short of it is that the Clans seem to have completely forgotten that he was a willing assistant to two tyrannical leaders, got kicked out of his own Clan for being evil, and murdered a cat for the crime of being a half-breed. The warriors' reasons for disliking him are because he's from ShadowClan and he's a little grumpy, not for any of his actual fuckin' crimes. Add to that the fact that he's a gullible idiot who let some outsider nearly destroy his Clan based on lies that he should have been able to figure out were fake, and you have an idiot asshole who just hurts ShadowClan.

Spottedleaf: Aside from the creepy nature of her romantic tension with Firepaw (not -heart, -paw) and her obsession with him after her death, she doesn't have a damn thing going for her. She's, what, pretty? Smells nice? Keeps mourning that she never got to be with her True Love? She is a hollow character with "Firestar" as her only personality trait. Thistleclaw's manipulations are the sole interesting thing that ever happened to her, and you can guess for yourself why that's fucked up.

Leopardstar: Look. I get it. She's a popular character. Strong Female Hero, Queen of the River Clan, Blah Blah Blah. I don't care. She's an unpleasant bitch that let her Clan be walked over by Tigerstar (who we'll get to in a second) because she was "in love with him". And then she spends the rest of her appearances being an asshole. Fuck that. Why don't you do something beneficial to the other characters for once?

Frecklewish: Bearing in mind that I only read the Wiki pages of Mapleshade's Vengeance and Frecklewish herself, I can at least say that this character is awful. She forces her way into Mapleshade's business, to the point that she won't even leave her alone as she's giving birth, and does a complete 180 at the reveal and screams at her for "betraying" her and wants the kits she was previously obsessed with out. For why? Those kits not being her brother's, which Mapleshade never said they were? Bitch assumed and made it her business to micromanage the entire thing. She's not awful enough to go to the Dark Forest, but boy is she a fuckwad.

Tigerstar: Did you know he has a superpower? He has the magical ability to make everyone around him stupid as a rock so he can act evil and do horrible things and get away with them. If it wasn't for the fact that everyone just drops every IQ point they have where he's concerned, he would not have gotten nearly as far as he did in the books. StarClan gave him nine lives, Bluestar dismissed his dangerous behavior, EVERYONE bought his story about Ravenpaw of all people being a traitor, so on and so forth. All it would have taken is one person getting their brain back and asking a single question about what he was doing, and he would have failed and been killed. It's purely the writers getting him anywhere. It's bullshit.

Thistleclaw: I don't think I need to justify this one. He's a predator (which I still find a bad choice for the writers to have made), he's an asshole, etc. I'm disappointed that they failed so hard to make him dangerous in Bluestar's Prophecy that they had to backtrack and make him a monster in a side story, when there was no indication of that, like, ever.

Mistystar: Just read The Broken Code and you'll get it. For a recap, she just agrees with everything the obviously evil people say, to the point of almost letting Bramblestar run her Clan for her. She's unkind to her own Clanmates, refusing to let them back in even after it's clear that they didn't deserve their punishment. She's a terrible leader, made even worse by her going as stupid as she did and just doing whatever Bramblestar says. It's ridiculous.

Lionblaze: Boring. He is so goddamn boring. He's overpowered, so he can't lose any fight. He goes through the same Dark Forest arc Bramblestar did, and that goes nowhere. His personality is dishwater and I never had it in me to care about him, even back in the day when I was first reading the third arc. And let's not forget that he had so many kits that ThunderClan is one big incest clusterfuck now. I desperately want him to die.

Rootspring: God, did you see him in TBC? He's so self-pitying and whiny! He won't drop his crush on Bristlefrost (and the fact that she dies and he doesn't still pisses me off because she was infinitely more interesting) until she says she loves him back out of fuckin' nowhere. He's constantly going "weh, why do I have to have an embarrassing dad, why do I have to have powers, oh, woe is me, I have a lot to be grateful for and I refuse to acknowledge those things". God. It's pathetic. Grow some nads and quit complaining about your life, dipshit. Shadowsight has seizures and almost destroyed the Clans, and he's not bitching nearly as much as you are.

[foxstride]

Redstar AU

occupying space in my head where it shouldn't be so here's some notes to get it out - completely free to use as inspiration (pls link me if you do Anything with this just because i'd love to see!)

Bluestar leads the patrol to Sunningrocks, Oakheart is killed by the rocks while fighting Mousefur

While Bluestar is shocked and mourning Oakheart, a RiverClan warrior (Stonefur would be interesting, rage-induced while mourning)

Redtail appoints Lionheart as his deputy, because he knows that he's the best choice, and is much more wary of Tigerclaw than Bluestar even was

He assigns Rosetail to be Firepaw's mentor

Goes to the Moonstone with Spottedleaf to get his nine lives (no order: Bluestar, Leopardfoot, Poppydawn, Swiftbreeze, Adderfang, Sunstar, Featherwhisker, Squirrelwhisker, Doestar)

RiverClan claim Sunningrocks, Redstar refuses to defend it and forbids Tigerclaw from fighting for it, instead focusing on rebuilding the Clan and feeding their Clanmates

Yellowfang is driven out of their territory by Tigerclaw

When WindClan is exiled, Redstar ups defence training of all warriors and fortifies the camp further, realising they can't trust RiverClan to be their allies even against Brokenstar

he considers trading Sunningrocks for RiverClan allying them but Spottedleaf talks him out of it

when ShadowClan attack the camp, he's still there and they manage to defend it, Rosetail doesn't die but Lionheart is injured gravely

while Lionheart recovers, Redstar appoints Rosetail to be temporary deputy and has Tigerclaw carry out the final assessments for Sandpaw, Dustpaw, and Ravenpaw

Tigerclaw claims Ravenpaw doesn't pass but a few days later he brings back an adder, Redstar has Whitestorm watch Ravenpaw instead and confers with Rosetail on the apprentices' progress

Sandpaw, Dustpaw, and Ravenpaw are made warriors: Sandstorm (for Whitestorm), Dustpelt, Ravenwing OR Ravenheart

once the camp is repaired and Lionheart has recovered, they plot to figure out how to deal with Brokenstar: Tigerclaw demands attacking their camp, Rosetail advises reinforcing the borders, and Lionheart wants to focus on defence. Redstar agrees with both Rosetail and Lionheart

Clawface sneaks in to steal kits but is caught by Rosetail; he's held prisoner in camp and Redstar sends a message to Brokenstar that they will give him back his warrior ONLY if he steps down as leader - this is an impossible request, but it buys them enough time to interrogate Clawface (Tigerclaw is the interrogator) and learns that ShadowClan's strength lies in its kits and what happened to the elders

Redstar sends Tigerclaw, Lionheart, Sandstorm, and Mousefur into ShadowClan territory to search for the elders - they find Nightpelt and discuss strategy and report back. Redstar agrees that they should drive out Brokenstar, but Clawface overhears and manages to escape

they decide to attack under the claw-moon, knowing they don't have much time, and Redstar sends Tigerclaw and Lionheart to the ShadowClan elders to have them prepared

Tigerclaw kills Lionheart once in ShadowClan territory, this is his first murder. he covers himself in some of Lionheart's blood and goes to the ShadowClan elders, claiming that he and Lionheart were attacked by a ShadowClan patrol, and readies them for battle

Redstar leaves Rosetail, Longtail, Dustpelt, Ravenwing/heart, Firepaw, Greypaw, and the queens and elders to guard camp. Once the attack patrol leaves, Firepaw and Greypaw stuff the gorse tunnel with thorns and branches so it's harder to get through

Redstar leads the attack patrol to ShadowClan's territory, sending Sandstorm to the elders; she finds Lionheart's body on the way and notes that the only fresh scent on him is Tigerclaw's. she reaches the elders and they go to attack

they successfully drive out Brokenstar, stealing one of his lives and killing Clawface and several other warriors

Nightpelt takes over ShadowClan and Redstar leads ThunderClan back home, only to find that Brokenstar left the territory and immediately attacked in retaliation; Firepaw and Greypaw are fending them off and the other warriors are almost overwhelmed

the attack patrol attacks the rogues and drives them out; Brokenstar is chased by Firepaw and Redtail, but is trapped by Yellowfang who, on being caught up, reveals that Brokenstar should never have been born, as the kit of a medicine cat

Redstar corrects her that Brokenstar being born means nothing, as every kit is innocent and has the potential to do great, and instead Brokenstar forged his own evil path

Brokenstar attacks Yellowfang, she and Firepaw kill him in defence of her

Redstar takes the two back to camp and asks where Lionheart is - on being told the story of the patrol ambush, he mourns Lionheart and appoints Rosetail deputy - he notices Tigerclaw's frustration, and that Sandstorm seems uneasy, but he tries to change the mood by asking Whitestorm and Rosetail to carry out assessments of Firepaw and Greypaw to ensure their hunting skills are as well as their fighting skills, because they might be close to being warriors

book 1 ends

book 1 begins

Sandstorm tells Redstar what she found when she discovered Lionheart's body, and he agrees that it's suspicious but without his body they have no proof

Redstar goes to the ShadowClan border to request that they be able to find Lionheart's body and take him back home, but Nightpelt refuses and says that they will get his body - so they still have no proof

the idea of finding WindClan is drifted around the camp and Redstar contemplates who to send, because ShadowClan might still be a threat and they don't know about RiverClan

Yellowfang continues to stay with ThunderClan, and begins picking up warrior duties; Longtail is given Swiftpaw as an apprentice and Mousefur is made mentor of Lynxpaw

at the Gathering, RiverClan and ShadowClan argue for WindClan not to be returned, but Redstar argues for it and convinces Nightstar to remember what it felt like to be driven out of his own camp and Clan. RiverClan still refuse

Redstar decides to send Sandstorm, Dustpelt, and Ravenwing/heart to find WindClan, because they know WindClan's scent and they need their strongest warriors to defend camp. he tells them not to go too far, and to ask the barn cats for help, and sends them to Spottedleaf for herbs

after the journeying cats have gone, he tries to talk to Crookedstar again, but RiverClan refuse to help and warn them off, Redstar thinks they're hungry and points out that they already have Sunningrocks, why do they need WindClan's territory? and he's never seen RiverClan warriors hunt on Sunningrocks, only sunbathe. RiverClan ignore him

Firepaw and Greypaw are made warriors: Fireblaze and Greystripe

some time later, the young warriors are coming back when Tigerclaw brings Brokenstar's exiled warriors to the camp, knowing that ThunderClan is weakened

Rosetail is killed, Redstar loses TWO lives in the battle, but Sandstorm, Dustpelt, and Ravenwing/heart return in time and help finish the battle with Yellowfang pinning down Tigerclaw

Tigerclaw is exiled, along with Darkstripe, though he asks Goldenflower and Longtail to go with - they refuse

Mousefur is made deputy, Cinderpaw is apprenticed to Yellowfang, recognising her as a true ThunderClan warrior, and Brackenpaw is apprenticed to Goldenflower

RiverClan and ShadowClan attack WindClan, along with Tigerclaw (on his own, trying to weasel into favour); ThunderClan arrive to help in time and drive ShadowClan out, and tell them that Tigerclaw brought Brokenstar's rogues to attack his own Clanmates

RiverClan is harder to defeat, but Crookedstar loses his second to last life and calls a retreat

knowing now that RiverClan is weakening, Redstar ups battle training and sends two patrols to retake Sunningrocks, and then wait for them there

Crookedstar and Leopardfur arrive at Sunningrocks and threaten battle, but Redstar instead proposes that RiverClan can fish in the river, but not hunt on the ground, and they will share. His proposition is: they will share Sunningrocks, RiverClan will mark along the river and ThunderClan will mark along the trees, but the rocks themselves will be shared. ThunderClan can flush prey out of the rocks but will only kill prey on their own territory, and they can share the rocks together

eventually, this is agreed to

now that RiverClan has been dealt with, Redstar turns his attention back to Tigerclaw: they know that he and the rogues will still be around, so they need to find a way of either luring him out or chasing him out for good

not sure if i'll continue this or not

[warriorsbutnotreally]

Firestar Has Powers As The Fourth - AU

ooo

so I'm gonna make this a TPB thing

but I will add some afternote info

for future events

in case anyone wants to do anything with this

[which idr if this was ever mentioned, but my designs and ideas and AUs are free to use I just ask for credit]

Rusty is a kittypet who is drawn by the forest and other kittypets are cautious about him as he's always had something about him that unsettled other cats

He seems to know about things no cat does and talks about things he's seen that no one believes exists

Rusty has the ability to basically safely separate his spirit from his body and wander around in his sleep, so long as his spirit has a place to return to

One night while he does this, his spirit travelling through the forest, he notices two cats sitting together - a blue-gray molly and a tortoiseshell molly -, talking. He isn't paying attention to what they say but watches them curiously, as he's done many times, but never so close to where all the strange forest cats slept

Suddenly, after the blue-gray she-cat leaves, the other cat looks and he realizes the tortoiseshell can see him do this and it frightens him into being wide awake

Despite his fear, though, he's also curious on what's going on and he feels himself being called towards the forest

Finally, gathering his nerves, he sets out only to find there's someone waiting for him.

The tortoiseshell from before is sitting out in the open and she greets him the moment she sees him

He asks who she is and she introduces herself as Spottedleaf and she asks if he was the cat that was spying on her and her leader

He sheepishly admits to it

Spottedleaf nods and then turns to an unseen figure that steps out of hiding. It's the blue-gray she-cat.

She's Bluestar and she admits she didn't believe in what Spottedleaf saw for a moment, but is quite curious about this young tom.

They have a long talk that ends in Rusty agreeing to join ThunderClan as long as the two she-cats promise not to tell anyone about his gift, as it has lost him many friends

With no goodbyes to anyone, he follows them

Rusty grows into Firepaw and is quickly mentored by both Bluestar and Spottedleaf. When asked, Bluestar states that she's curious if he's more suited to being a warrior or a medicine cat.

He's not interested in being a medicine cat at all, but rather Spottedleaf, being the only cat who can see him when he spirit walks, just wants to learn the extent of his abilities and such and has no interest in making him be a medicine cat apprentice.

They learn the hard way that she's not the only one, as he's noticed by another cat - a sickly ShadowClan tom.

When he returns, he mentions this and Spottedleaf informs him that who he met was Runningnose. She then speculates that perhaps its those with high ties to StarClan - aka medicine cats - who can see him.

Firepaw eventually goes to full warrior training to avoid any issues with the other medicine cats

Now able to hang out with cats his own age more often, he becomes fast friends with Ravenpaw and Graypaw, though he keeps his secret from them as he's worried they'd no longer want to be friends with him if he told them

He goes through his time in ThunderClan trying to avoid using his abilities - or, at least, not using them enough to get caught doing it

His stance on this changes after Spottedleaf dies, as he realizes he could've spied on ShadowClan and seen this coming, even though he had no clue he would've needed to spy on ShadowClan at all and it's kind of a illogical back and forth with himself

He makes a quiet promise to himself to use his powers whenever he feels he should to avoid losing anyone else

After Bluestar sends him and Graystripe to find WindClan, Fireheart uses his ability to wander until he locates where they are, leading his friend in that direction

Graystripe is in awe, thinking Fireheart is just the best tracker in the four Clans and looks up to him with great fondness

As they lead the Clan back, Fireheart is confronted by Barkface, who admits he isn't sure why, but he's certain that there's something strange about the fire-orange tom and he hopes that whatever that is, that it's for the good of the Clans

Fireheart promises that he's doing all he can to help the forest, even if he wasn't born into it

Barkface liked that

The gorge scene and Fireheart saves Sandpaw, coming to terms slowly that his powers can't help him with everything

Fireheart returns and Yellowfang is now aware of his powers, as Bluestar told her while he was gone. She wants to test his limits rather than just seeing them work. [Cinder and Bracken aren't apprenticed early]

While back to training in the medicine cat den, he learns he cannot physically interact with the living while his spirit is detached

They also learn, after he travels to the Moonstone as a spirit, that he can travel to StarClan and we learn of them a bit earlier than expected. He sees Redtail's spirit and he runs to ask him what happened, but is snapped awake by the sounds of Tigerclaw interrogating Yellowfang on why Fireheart is here

Fireheart interrupts by saying he was considering being a medicine cat

Tigerclaw accepts this answer and tells him he should bring it up with Bluestar

After he leaves, Yellowfang asks if he was telling the truth and Fireheart admits that he's not entirely sure. She informs him that if he chooses to become a medicine cat, there's always a place for him, but she warns him that it's not an easy path

Fireheart is aware of this

She also then adds that he'd never be allowed to have a mate or kits.

He's also aware of this

He goes off on a hunting patrol and while he's out he stumbles across a kittypet and she stares at him from her fence, wide-eyed. He's about to leave when she calls him 'Rusty' and he realizes that this is his sister, Princess.

Princess is happy to see him

He's happy to see Princess

They talk and she reveals she's expecting kits and he starts thinking about what Yellowfang said

Fireheart has been sneaking out to talk to his sister during the day and trains his powers with Yellowfang at night

One day Graystripe drags him off to go hunting before he can leave camp and the two of them hang out for the first time in a long time. Graystripe asks if Fireheart is actually considering being a medicine cat and he admits that he isn't entirely sure yet.

Graystripe, implying to like Fireheart, tells him that he'd rather be able to share a den with him

Fireheart didn't catch on and instead jokes that, with how much Graystripe gets into trouble, that he'll be in there more often than not if Fireheart does become a medicine cat

Graystripe is not impressed and goes off to hunt alone. Fireheart is confused on why his friend was hurt, but Graystripe refuses to talk.

After some time, Fireheart realizes that he isn't the only one sneaking out of camp and he decides to investigate, even though he was doing the same thing

There he sees Graystripe hanging out with a RiverClan cat

He confronts them and Graystripe introduces Silverstream

Fireheart scolds the two of them and Graystripe counters back that he's not the only one sneaking off to see someone

Silverstream leaves the two to argue and Fireheart asks what he's talking about.

Graystripe mentions he knows Fireheart has been going near twolegplace. He asks what business he has there.

Fireheart brings up his sister

Graystripe feels awkward now

Next time he sees Princess, he says he'd have to visit less often. Princess understands.

Whitecough is spreading through camp and Fireheart avoids the medicine cat den for the day as he's not sure what he wants to do with his life.

He goes to Bluestar and asks what he should do

Bluestar is confused

He brings up how he told Tigerclaw he was thinking of becoming a medicine cat

She asks if he's being truthful

He isn't sure

She then asks what he wants to do

He's still not sure

Bluestar gives him the option to train as a medicine cat for a couple moons and he can make his choice then

So Fireheart starts his journey as a medicine cat around the same time Bluestar gets sick. Tigerclaw's attempt to kill Bluestar ends with Fireheart almost getting hit by a car, but he manages to stumble over into ShadowClan territory. He gets scolded for doing so.

Some time later we get Cloudkit in ThunderClan. He is made aware of his kittypet origins a lot sooner and Brindleface loves him regardless and her kits defend him from being bullied.

Fireheart helps heal his Clan from whitecough and, while learning herbs, ThunderClan is attacked by rogues. They win and the Brokentail is Yellowfang's son reveal happens

Fireheart confronts Yellowfang about this and the two have a long talk about what happened with her life and how she had kits as a medicine cat

He's sympathetic but then asks why they don't just change the code

She admits she isn't sure

Fireheart promises change

She laughs a bit and says "sure"

Yellowfang is busy so she sends Fireheart to gather herbs and supplies. He brings Sandstorm for help. The two hang out and bond and she apologies for being an ass when he first joined. He accepts her apology.

The two become friends

They return to learn Cloudkit, Ashkit, and Fernkit are missing. They are found by the two adults and scolded.

Fireheart and Sandstorm are like two disappointed parents and Tigerclaw warns Fireheart not to grow too comfortable around Sandstorm or the kits

Fireheart is confused

ThunderClan helps WindClan against River and Shadow, but Fireheart is forced to stay behind, despite his worries for his Clan. Yellowfang shows him how to prepare herbs for after battles

Fire grows sus of Tigerclaw after learning that Graystripe almost died and the deputy did nothing to help. Graystripe is stuck in the medicine cat den and asks Fireheart to please make sure that the tom didn't hurt Silverstream.

Fireheart promises and Graystripe purrs, calling him a good friend before passing out

Fireheart grows more worried, however, about Tigerclaw and wants to ask Ravenpaw more about what happened that day

While Graystripe is recovering, Tigerclaw seems to be watching over the medicine cat den like a hawk. Fireheart doesn't think he'll be able to leave without being noticed and wonders if he'd be able to use his powers

Fireheart stays behind for the gathering as does Tigerclaw, the deputy stating that he doesn't trust Brokentail.

Fireheart uses his powers and travels to the barn. That's when he learns, for the first time, that he can basically create a shared dream space in StarClan for cats to talk, as he accidentally brings Graystripe as he was thinking about him while creating the space.

The three talk and Ravenpaw tells them everything, seemingly still thinking this is a dream.

Fireheart later confirms this is a dream and realizes then that he can physically interact with Ravenpaw here and realizing he's more or less controlling the tom's spirit to be there.

This makes Fireheart worried, but Ravenpaw and Graystripe wake up safely.

Fireheart has Sandstorm help him get Graystripe out of camp for a bit and the three hang out and bond, warming up to each other. Fireheart is becoming aware about these feelings he's having about Sandstorm and tries to ignore them. However, he also thinks about Yellowfang and how silly the rule that medicine cats can't have a mate or kits is, especially since it's not like he'd be the sole parent of the kits.

He realizes he's thinking like this and tries to act like he wasn't imagining a life with him and another cat

Granted he's not sure who the other cat was, but brushes Graystripe off as an option, since the tom has a mate already

Speaking of, Graystripe got them a chance to talk to a cat who had seen the battle - Graypool - and thinks she may know something. They agree to meet her the next day.

Before they go, though. Apprentices. Cinderpaw goes to Sandstorm, Brackenpaw goes to Runningwind, Brightpaw goes to Whitestorm, and Thornpaw goes to Mousefur

The plot where Graypool tells them about Mistyfoot and Stormfur happens as well as Bluestar being dismissive about it remains the same.

Everything goes about the same, minus Fireheart having warrior duties and more him learning how to be a medicine cat and having conflicting feelings about the rule about not being able to have his own family. Also maybe a bit where Brokentail taunts him about the death of Spottedleaf and how ThunderClan needs kittypets to heal them, which he does his best to ignore.

Fireheart agrees to help Graystripe visit RiverClan during the flood under the terms that he's checking if the medicine cat, Mudfur, needs any aid.

They save Mistyfoot's kits and Fireheart agrees to help them while Graystripe aids a hunting patrol. Graystripe returns, but Fireheart is permitted to stay behind.

This is when he learns that Silverstream is pregnant. He's shocked, but keeps her secret. The two talk for a while and he understands why Graystripe would admire her, as she's independent and has a strong heart. While in camp, however, he notices something strange. Like a shadow is following Silverstream wherever she walks that belongs to a much different cat.

Graystripe is still secretly delivering prey and aiding patrols while pretending to check on how Fireheart is doing.

When Fireheart returns, Bluestar has many questions for him and it makes him curious, but he assures his leader that RiverClan will be okay.

Fireheart notices Tigerclaw is visiting near the medicine cat den more often and sees him near Brokentail and is curious on what's going on. He wonders if there's something going on or if Tigerclaw has developed empathy.

There is another attempt on Fireheart's life [the almost drowning], but Longtail saves him and Tigerclaw brushes off what happened and informs Bluestar about the flood

It's revealed at the gathering by Nightstar that ThunderClan has Brokentail and the other Clans are mad

Shadow and Wind invade Thunder, get chased off etc

Cinderpaw is hurt during the fight and Sandstorm uses that as an excuse to visit, despite also being hurt and needing to visit anyway.

Fireheart notices Graystripe leave camp and he excuses himself. He follows and learns Silverstream is having her kits. Sandstorm and Cinderpaw, who followed, are surprised as well.

The group of them come together and help Silverstream, but she's actively dying. Fireheart lays next to her to help keep her warm and uses his powers for the first time in a bit and manages to use his connection to spirits to keep her alive.

Also Tigerclaw arrives on the scene as he wakes up from saving her

Silverstream and her kits are brought into ThunderClan and Graystripe is revealed to be the father.

Goldenflower helps Silverstream take care of the kits while Tigerclaw yells at the small group. Bluestar takes over the situation.

In private she admits to Fireheart that Mistyfoot and Stonefur is her kits and that she hopes Graystripe knows what he's going to do.

Fireheart asks what she thinks should happen but she doesn't answer

Tigerclaw is still mad

Silverstream is not doing great and soon enough needs to be brought back into the medicine cat den

There's talks of sending her home to avoid any tension with RiverClan, especially since Brokentail is still in camp and Crookedstar would be upset if he learned his daughter was so close to a killer

After a couple days and her condition getting worse, Bluestar decides it's time to send her home, especially after Willowpelt announces that she's expecting Whitestorm's kits

A patrol is sent to get RiverClan and Crookedstar brings some of his warriors to pick up his daughter and her kits. Graystripe goes with them, worried over his kits.

A meeting is held as Cloudkit becomes Cloudpaw. Bluestar personally trains him.

One day Fireheart asks permission to have Cloudpaw collect herbs. Bluestar allows this. He brings Cloudpaw to meet his mother, Princess, instead.

Fireheart becomes Yellowfang's official apprentice now, choosing to use his powers to help, but also still keeping up on battle-training as it's helping him calm his nerves.

While Yellowfang and Fireheart are doing some light battle training to keep their skills up and also talk about Fireheart's worries about Tigerclaw when they see Tigerclaw with a group of rogues

The two run back to camp and things go the same with ThunderClan fighting the rogues and Brokentail siding with the rogues

Fireheart gets Sandstorm's help in saving Bluestar and Sandstorm goes feral on Tigerclaw for a moment before the rogues are chased off

Bluestar exiles Tigerclaw. He tries to get cats to join him, but they all say no.

Brokentail is killed and Fireheart is dragged off to the side by Bluestar and she demands him to help her chose a deputy, since she can't choose him.

He chooses Sandstorm

Bluestar trusts him and she announces Sandstorm as her deputy. Sandstorm is shocked but accepts.

ThunderClan begins recovery and Fireheart is worried about Bluestar and Graystripe - the leader being on edge and paranoid and his friend being far away with no news on how he or Silverstream are doing.

Sandstorm visits him that night and the two talk about what happened - Fireheart not mentioning that Bluestar asked him to choose a deputy - until they fall asleep.

Some time passes and Sandstorm is taking over helping the Clan quite well; Whitestorm is proud of her. She does come to Fireheart with some worry over Bluestar and Cloudpaw, but Fireheart comforts her.

Fireheart is personally worried about what Tigerclaw is doing and seeing Bramblekit only makes him worry more. He has that talk with Goldenflower about her kits

When Fireheart heads out, he noticed Sandstorm is frustrated still and he asks what's going on She mentions apprentices ceremonies and how Bluestar brushed her off about it. She expresses both worry and annoyance about this.

The two go talk to Bluestar and Bluestar tells Sandstorm to do the ceremony if she's so worried about it

So Sandstorm does. Ashpaw is apprenticed to Dustpelt and Fernpaw is given to Darkstripe.

Bluestar's mad that Sandstorm actually did that and the Clan is a little confused, but goes with it. It's also at this point that Fireheart realizes that Cloudpaw is missing, as he was busy with so much.

He asks Bluestar and she mentioned sending him off hunting right as Cloudpaw returns with a single piece of prey.

Fireheart is worried

Bluestar later drags Fireheart off to the Moonstone, leaving Sandstorm alone. She vents to Fireheart and reveals he's the only cat she trusts and she's even on edge about Sandstorm.

She asks if he's sure about being a medicine cat, even offering to drop Sandstorm as deputy and give him Cloudpaw, but he's certain.

They are confronted by a WindClan patrol and Fireheart tries to be diplomatic and use him being a medicine cat as an excuse, but WindClan is made and refuses to let them pass.

Bluestar almost gets into a fight but Fireheart almost drags her back home.

The Clan is also angry after they learn what's going on. Except Cloudpaw, who is rather unbothered.

She returns to her den and doesn't seem worried about Cloudpaw. Fireheart is worried about Cloudpaw.

Sandstorm and Fireheart talk to each other about their worries for Bluestar and Fireheart is very supportive of Sandstorm. This helps the deputy relax and she thanks him awkwardly.

The gathering doesn't go great

Things go the same with Whitethroat and Littlecloud and Yellowfang teaches Fireheart about this disease and what to do about it However Bluestar sends the ShadowClan warriors away Sandstorm helps Fireheart escort them

Fireheart explains to the two on what to do and Littlecloud asks a lot of questions. Fireheart gives what answers he can.

Littlecloud asks if he could come see Fireheart for more information and Fireheart, surprised, looks at Sandstorm, who pretends she isn't listening He then agrees

They watch the two leave through a tunnel and Sandstorm becomes a bit worried, admitting she'd never noticed the tunnel before.

She wants to tell Bluestar, but Fireheart has her promise not to, since he wants to help ShadowClan

She hesitates but agrees

Fireheart comes back and notices that Cloudpaw is just being allowed to do whatever and Bluestar isn't really training him. He drags Cloudpaw out to train but Cloudpaw is a brat about it.

Fireheart tries to counter that he originally trained as a warrior, but Cloudpaw still doesn't care

He lets Cloudpaw wander off but follows him in secret, learns he's eating kittypet food, and gets mad. He talks to Sandstorm about this and the two try to talk to him about it, but he honestly does not care what they have to say.

Soon after Fireheart helps Willowpelt give birth and he thinks about Sandstorm

He tries to push these thoughts away, but he has a lot of feelings towards her

Fireheart is training Littlecloud in Littlecloud's dreams and also sneaks to the tunnels to help anyone that is struggling

Sandstorm catches him and scolds him while also helping. Sometimes she even brings Cinderpaw sometimes, though this is less out of willingness and more out of the fact no one's allowed to tell Cinderpaw what to do, not even her deputy mentor.

Sandstorm also quietly mentions that pretty soon there will need to be warrior ceremonies.

They return to learn that Cloudpaw has been missing for a while and Fireheart panics

He uses his power to try to hunt down Cloudpaw but is unable to find him. He wakes up in an even bigger panic and Sandstorm is confused how he increased panic after a sudden nap.

He tells Sandstorm about his powers and she's surprised but promises to keep it a secret. He informs her that Bluestar knows and that, if she asks, tell her what he's doing.

She guards him as he frantically uses his powers to try to find his nephew. He even uses a moment to inform Littlecloud, who can see him naturally now, and the small tabby promises to help keep an eye out.

During one of his wake ups, he learns from Sandstorm that Bluestar and Whitestorm are aware of what's going on - with Whitestorm to a lesser degree as both she and the leader talked vaguely about Fireheart's powers.

She also brings up that cats are starting to whisper about how much time she's spending helping him.

He's confused for a moment but becomes flustered when he remembered how he was thinking of Sandstorm while helping Willowpelt.

He asks if she's upset he became a medicine cat and she says no, but seems to be holding something back

He then asks if it's possible if the two can remain close and she's confused before he elaborates that he likes her a lot but there's not much that can be done. Even then he goes on and adds that he wants there to be a change because he cares about her a lot. She cares for him, too.

They begin secret dating with plans to make their dating not a secret in the future.

Worries and stress grow through the Clan and there's a small point in time that Fireheart has to stop searching for Cloudpaw in order to help the Clan.

Everyone's worried about Bluestar

While grabbing water for the queens and herbs for Yellowfang, he encounters Graystripe and realizes it had been a moment since he thought of his friend and he feels a little guilty

Graystripe talks about Silverstream's condition and how she's still alive but a lot weaker than before. Still, she's kicking and refuses to go down.

Fireheart is happy to hear that and gives Graystripe some herbs to take back to Mudfur to help Silverstream.

the plot with Mousefur and Thornpaw is about the same, though Fireheart comes to help with Runningwind. While the patrol chases away ShadowClan cats, Tigerclaw attacks Fireheart while he's alone and Fireheart fights back

Tigerclaw actively tries to murder Fireheart with the help of rogues, but Graystripe and a RiverClan patrol help and Tigerclaw is chided for trying to harm a medicine cat

The rogues are chased off, Runningwind is buried, Whitethroat is given a proper funeral, and he vents to Yellowfang about Tigerclaw.

After his wounds are taken care of, he casually brings Sandstorm out of camp to get help gathering herbs, except they just cuddle and talk and she expresses her worries to him

Ravenpaw stumbles across them and chooses not to ask questions, instead informing them of a kittypet with a ThunderClan scent

Fireheart is surprised, Sandstorm is cautious, and in the end they decide to go. Fireheart considers using his powers to make sure, but Sandstorm asks what other ThunderClan cat would willingly become a kittypet.

They have a small argument as he doesn't believe it was willing and she does apologize while they travel.

They Cloudpaw rescue goes the same, including the confrontation with the WindClan patrol. WindClan is still mad at ThunderClan, despite Fireheart's best attempts to be reasonable.

The fire also still happens in about the same way, but Fireheart comes out the full medicine cat of ThunderClan and has a Tigerstar child with him

While in RiverClan, Sandstorm is working hard to keep ThunderClan under control and safe.

Fireheart checks with Silverstream and Graystripe and meets Featherkit and Stormkit. Silverstream still isn't doing the best, but Mosspelt is shown to often help take care of the kits when Silverstream's having one of her weaker episodes.

Fireheart is worried about her but Graystripe is confident that she's going to be okay. Fireheart notices the shadow from before does seem weaker.

Fireheart, Sandstorm, and Graystripe go to check on ThunderClan's camp after the rain puts the fire out. Yellowfang is dying and she talks to them before passing away.

Fireheart is not, even more officially, the medicine cat of ThunderClan. Sandstorm expression worry but he comforts her, both as now the sole cat in charge of healing and as her mate.

ThunderClan returns to their territory, Bluestar declares war on StarClan, Sandstorm starts rebuilding ThunderClan's camp, and Fireheart and her worry over Bluestar only grows.

Bluestar refuses to go to the gather and a stressed out Sandstorm takes over, just getting more and more frustrated to the point Fireheart is hardly able to help.

As they talk about their future and what they're going to do, they get to the gathering to find Tigerclaw is now Tigerstar of ShadowClan.

Sandstorm is angry and calls Tigerstar out for the shit he did to ThunderClan. Tigerstar remarks that he's here to make ShadowClan strong and that ThunderClan is made of weak, know it all cowards.

This is a very unpeaceful gathering and it ends early with ThunderClan barely getting through their news without Tigerstar egging Sandstorm on and pissing her off He insults her covering for Bluestar and taunts ThunderClan about Fireheart until they leave.

Sandstorm informs everyone about Tigerstar and Bluestar is absolutely no help in the situation, confiding her worries into Fireheart and once more making another offer to make him deputy.

Fireheart misses Yellowfang and isn't sure what to do in this situation, still denying the role.

Time passes and ShadowClan is quiet. There is some worry over dogs, so Sandstorm sends a couple patrols at her former mentor's request to soothe any troubled minds.

Fireheart and Sandstorm learn from Graystripe that Crookedstar's unwell and Leopardfur is taking charge of RiverClan. He also brings up how Silverstream is at least healthy enough for short patrols.

That night, Fireheart has a dream and hears the words 'pack, pack, kill, kill'

Worried for Silverstream, he goes to check on her as a spirit only to be confronted by the shadow of a molly who seems to be weakened greatly.

She hisses and attacks him and he's surprised to find that he's actually hurt, causing him to realize that she's a ghost

She's angry that Silverstream is alive and tries to attack him again, seeing it as his fault - also vowing to "get rid of her little scraps with her".

Fireheart manages to chase her off

He returns and is overwhelmed with everything that just happened.

He hears the mentors talking about their apprentices and Sandstorm agrees that they should be made warriors. She's tired of waiting for Bluestar and admits she's tempted to do the warriors ceremony without the leader.

The other cats are in agreement.

He is drawn to the medicine cat den by the sound of Snowkit getting hurt. The whole confrontation with Snowkit happens and Fireheart decides to watch over the kit.

He goes for the medicine cat meeting and learns what all is going on in ShadowClan. That night he spends the time trying to figure things out by himself, but does talk to Yellowfang and Spottedleaf for a bit for their feelings on the matter.

While out gathering herbs, he comes across Sandstorm who came across Princess and stops Sandstorm from smacking his sister by revealing that she's his family

Sandstorm is understanding

They learn that dogs are missing and on their way home, they pass RiverClan and learn that Tigerstar is manipulating Leopardfur and that Graypool is missing

Graypool's death happens

After he returns he also learns Snowkit is deaf. Bluestar does not like this and Speckletail does not like Bluestar. Sandstorm currently also doesn't like Bluestar.

Speckletail and Brackenfur work together to try to train Snowkit with express permission from Sandstorm

Fireheart overhears talks about dogs and learns they found dog scent at Snakerocks. He also overhears Sandstorm and Bluestar's very vocal fight about this and starts heading to the nursery to get away from it when the hawk comes

He makes a made dash to Snowkit and gets hurt as he's almost grabbed by the hawk.

Bluestar is angry at Fireheart being reckless and shows this is more of a sign that StarClan wants to fight ThunderClan.

Fireheart is hurt and needs medical attention but is also ThunderClan's only medicine cat Still, he aids Sandstorm in calming cats down

He gets help from Sandstorm, Brackenfur, and Cinderpaw. They help patch him up, help Snowkit calm down, and he thanks them, joking that they'd be good medicine cats.

Sandstorm scuffs his ear for being an idiot

That gathering that Bluestar leads goes about the same and Sandstorm has to do damage control.

Fireheart learns from Sandstorm that Bluestar wants to start a war with WindClan. They agree on a plan to fake a sign for Bluestar and then just politely ask Tallstar to talk things out.

While they're getting ready, they spot Darkstripe with Goldenflower's kits outside of camp and Sandstorm goes off on him. She bans him from being near the kits and leads them back to camp. Fireheart goes off without her.

He gets Tallstar, makes a sign for Bluestar, and they go for a peaceful meeting.

The meeting is pleasant, but afterwards Bluestar goes off on Fireheart and Sandstorm and warns them that there will be no more treachery like that Sandstorm tries to argue, but Fireheart becomes actually worried for her safety and stops her

Bluestar goes missing for a bit, having gone to Highstones, and comes back with news about her time there and mentions the pack thing.

During one leaffall day, Swiftpaw comes running in from a patrol and mentions how RiverClan attacked a border patrol. Fireheart gathers his supplies and runs to go help.

Sandstorm is unable to stop him.

He comes in time to see Mistyfoot and Stonefur about to kill Bluestar and he stops them. They're confused and confrontational about a medicine cat being on the front lines.

Fireheart reveals that Bluestar's their mother. They don't believe him.

He is then almost thrown by Leopardstar, who is stopped by the warriors, warning her that he's a medicine cat. Leopardstar implies he's an idiot for being in the way of dangers and threatens him harm, only to be chided by her deputy, Stonefur.

RiverClan gets driven away

Fireheart helps cats with their injuries on the way back.

Bluestar holds a warriors ceremony. But only for Cloudpaw. Who is now Cloudtail.

The mentors are angry but she refuses to listen. Sandstorm goes to yell at her for a bit.

While this is going on, Swiftpaw storms out of camp with Cinderpaw, Brightpaw, and Brackenpaw behind him. Brackenpaw s trying to convince them to stop and Cinderpaw was on her brother's side until Swiftpaw made some good points.

Brackenpaw eventually falls back and goes to warn his Clanmates.

Fireheart watches in worry as Sandstorm, Whitestorm, Longtail, and Cloudtail go out to find them.

It takes a while, but they come back injured with three equally injured and scared apprentices. Fireheart tends to their wounds, stressing out greatly over Swiftpaw, who is the most injured. He's worried the apprentice won't make it through the night.

Sandstorm takes over the situation again and decides to hold proper warrior ceremonies, stating that this shouldn't have happened and expressing her disappointment in Bluestar quite loudly.

She makes the apprentices warriors; Cinderstorm, Brightsong, Brackenheart, Thornclaw, and Swiftstrike. She also goes on to make herself Tawnykit - now Tawnypaw's - mentor, has Cinderstorm mentor Bramblepaw, and has Brackenheart mentor Snowpaw - with help from Speckletail.

Bluestar is absolutely outraged and confronts her at the Clan meeting.

Sandstorm isn't having Bluestar's bs.

Bluestar than proceeds to demote Sandstorm and forces Fireheart to play the role of both deputy and medicine cat.

Everyone is confused and concerned, especially Fireheart, who has enough shit going on.

Fireheart spends his time taking care of the injured cats while trying to keep Bluestar calm and also doing what he can as deputy - while just doing what Whitestorm and Sandstorm tell him what to say and do as deputy.

He is overworked

He's still dragged off to the gathering, too, where he looks and feels terrible. He learns Graystripe's kits are apprentices and Tigerstar tries to get custody of his kits.

Bluestar's tempted but Fireheart manages to reason with her

Fireheart is taken away from camp for a bit by Cloudtail, Sandstorm, and Brightsong under the lie to their leader of a patrol. They meet Princess and she is worried.

The meeting with Princess happens and Fireheart passes out the moment he's in the medicine cat den.

He wakes up to Longtail, who expresses worry about dogs in the territory. He only agrees to go with him if he can take Sandstorm and Whitestorm. Longtail agrees and is surprisingly understanding.

Fireheart and Sandstorm take some time alone to be together and just breathe. They're mildly affectionate and she tells him to send patrols this way.

He promises she'll be deputy again

Brindleface death reveal goes about the same

Fireheart teams up with the Clan to make a plan to lead the dogs away from camp and eventually steps back as Sandstorm takes control and lets her be deputy.

He catches Darkstripe again with Goldenflower's kits and Whitestorm keeps a close eye on them.

Fireheart is on the sidelines, ready to help in case something goes bad.

Everything goes okay until the dogs scent him instead of their next target - thanks to Tigerclaw - and Fireheart is forced to flee from the dogs until Bluestar saves his life and gets him out of danger.

The dogs get chased over the edge and Bluestar dies.

The first thing he does is give Sandstorm back her proper place and she's ready to become leader of ThunderClan.

Bluestar is brought back to camp, the funeral, Mistyfoot and Stonefur go back to RiverClan, Sandstorm is announced as the new leader, and Fireheart joins Sandstorm on their trip to the Highstones.

While there they talk about talking to StarClan about their relationship and Sandstorm assures that she has a plan.

Fireheart is confident in her.

Sandstorm becomes Sandstar and gains lives from Lionheart, Redtail, Rosetail, Runningwind, Brindleface, Sunstar, Yellowfang, Spottedleaf, and Bluestar.

Immediately after, now a leader, she states loudly that Fireheart is her mate and she's going to get rid of the rule that they're not allowed to be together because of his role in the Clan

Fireheart is a lot less confident

Surprisingly, however, a lot of the cats are on Sandstar's side. Especially Yellowfang. They agree to talk this over and remind Sandstar that 'leader's word is law'.

After they wake up, Sandstar's very proud of how that turned out while Fireheart's still in shock. She asks him to be her mate, officially this time. He agrees.

They spend the night at Ravenpaw and Barley's and Sandstar and Fireheart have the same horrible dream. When they wake up they make quick goodbyes and hurry back to camp.

The first thing Sandstorm does when she arrives at camp is make some announcements; She names Longtail as her deputy, she announces that ThunderClan will allow medicine cats to take mates - and implies she and Fireheart are together - and tells ThunderClan that they need to prepare for whatever Tigerstar does next.

ThunderClan is a bit mixed about that second message, but they're pretty okay with everything else.

Fireheart expresses to Cinderstorm his concerns about her apprentoce and the warrior counters him, saying that Bramblepaw is a proud young warrior.

He apologizes.

Sorrelkit almost dies and Fireheart saves her. Darkstripe is cornered and forced to admit his crimes before being immediately exiled. Fernpaw's new mentor is Longtail and Longtail does not defend Darkstripe or his actions

There is worries about rogues in the territory and that night Fireheart wanders as a spirit and discovers BloodClan for the first time

He is shaken awake by his own shock

While visiting Graystripe, Fireheart learns more about what's going on in RiverClan and there's genuine worry about the safety of him and Silverstream. Silverstream has fully recovered and has been trying to reason with Leopardstar.

Fireheart brings this news to Sandstar and Sandstar's ready to start a fight with Tigerstar

Tigerstar fails to bring ThunderClan and WindClan into TigerClan and Sandstar goes off on him and Leopardstar She even calls Leopardstar a coward for allowing this tom anywhere near her Clan

Sandstar goes off on her own for a bit to clear her head and Fireheart takes this moment to check on the apprentices and see how they're doing

They could be doing better, especially Tawnypaw and Bramblepaw

Sandstar comes back and vaguely mentions a vision but doesn't go into details.

Ravenpaw had been on his way to pay his respects and check on his old Clanmates when he had stumbled across Silverstream who begged for help in RiverClan

Fireheart, Sandstar, Ravenpaw, and Silverstream go to RiverClan to see what's up

Mistyfoot, Stonefur, Featherpaw, and Stormpaw are in danger. Graystripe is also in danger, but is being held apart from them. Stonefur almost dies when Graystripe breaks out of his containment and helps Stonefur fight Darkstripe and then Blackfoot.

While this fight is going on, the guard for the other prisoners is distracted and the three other halfClan cats are rescued

Sandstar is about to have them go back for Graystripe and Stonefur when they realize that Graystripe is down and Stonefur is about to die next

Leopardstar is unable to watch this anymore and asks for the chance to talk to her deputy

Tigerstar is skeptical but allows this

Leopardstar proceeds to let Stonefur run away [reason being that she was still heavily bothered by Sandstar's words and the drawn out death was getting to her]

Stonefur is badly injured, but the ThunderClan rescue patrol manages to help him

Silverstream is distraught over the loss of her mate and the apprentices are shocked to hear their father is dead

They also learn, after returning, that Tawnypaw ran off while they were gone and no one knows where she is

Ravenpaw tries to help them find her, but parts ways when they can't, promising to keep an eye out for her.

While they're trying to help the RiverClan cats settle - Mudclaw arrives with the news that ShadowClan specifically has attacked WindClan

Fireheart stays behind, but sends Sandstar and her cats off with herbs for those wounded

After a moment, Longtail is sent back to grab Fireheart to help the wounded WindClan warriors. Fireheart follows and is horrified at the sight of what happened to WindClan.

Sandstar decides to confront Tigerstar once and for all next chance she gets and spends the night with Fireheart to soothe her mind

At the meeting, Tallstar and Sandstar both formally reject Tigerstar's offer once again, Tawnypaw's location in ShadowClan is revealed, Bramblepaw stays firmly right next to Cinderstorm - who is a good mentor to him, and BloodClan arrives.

Fireheart reveals to Sandstar he had seen these cats before when he had been looking for the rogues that had been a problem

Scourge, the leader of BloodClan, publicly and horrifically murders Tigerstar, is hostile to the Clans, and gives the Clan a short amount of time to decide if they're going to live or die

Barely able to comprehend what just happened, ThunderClan prepares for what's about to come and Sandstar begs Fireheart to not do anything rash and stupid

He tries his best to promise, but he himself knows that that's a big promise to need to keep

Ravenpaw and Barley join to help the fight

Fireheart and Cloudtail also go to warn Princess about BloodClan to make sure she's safe

Sandstar has another dream and brings Fireheart, Longtail, and the sheltered RiverClan cats along to try to be diplomatic with RiverClan and ShadowClan

They are brought to Fourtrees and the lot of them talk it out. Sandstar, though through some rather 'tough love' means, manages to spark inspiration in Leopardstar and Blackfoot. Leopardstar also formally apologizes to Mistyfoot, Silverstream, Stonefur, Featherpaw, and Stormpaw.

Most of them accept the apology and Leopardstar is understanding about it

She also takes a brief moment to thank Sandstar, but keeps it short and simple and follows it up with RiverClan agreeing to help

Blackfoot isn't here for that mushy stuff and just agrees

Also they learn why Tawnypaw left. She decides to stay in ShadowClan.

Speckletail and current queens are left in charge of camp, as well as Swiftstrike, who wants to tear apart any cat who gets past the Clans' defenses

They go and the battle against BloodClan begins

Whitestorm is still killed by Bone, the apprentices kill Bone, Longtail is almost killed but is saved by Fireheart [and then scolded by the deputy], and while Fireheart retreats to a safe distance, he is almost killed by Scourge

The small cat is about to absolutely obliterate him when Sandstar saves his life and throws Scourge off of him

He watches as Scourge turns and Sandstar loses her first life

Shocked, he runs at Scourge and fights the tom. Sandstar comes back to life as Fireheart kills the BloodClan leader.

BloodClan is chased from the forest

Some other deaths to note; Thornclaw is killed in the battle and Mistyfoot dies of infected wounds days after

And that ends TPB

For some after notes;

Squirrelflight and Leafpool are probably born a sooner than they were in canon and Leaf gets mentored by her father.

Bramblepaw gets the warrior name Brambleflower, more in honor of his mother than ever thinking about his father. Brambleflower likes this. Tawnypaw still becomes Tawnypelt.

Snowpaw becomes Snowtail, Ashpaw becomes Ashfur, and Fernpaw becomes Ferncloud.

Sorrelkit, Rainkit, and Sootkit become Sorreltail, Rainwhisker, and Sootfur

The other Clans are skeptical about the fact that ThunderClan's leader is openly with their medicine cat, but there's only snide remarks at gatherings and no proper confrontation

Snowtail and Ferncloud get together and Ferncloud helps cats learn kitty sign language and helps translate things for her mate

Brightsong and Cloudtail still get together

Swiftstrike and Dustpelt get together and can butt heads on certain issues, but still love each other

Sorreltail and Brackenheart still get together

Cinderstorm gets with the kittypet, Cody, who joins ThunderClan and the two are a happy couple. Cody is a permaqueen and that's an okay and valid thing to do.

This is about as much as I got-

Also Fireheart s 100% aware of his daughter's relationship to Crowfeather and is okay with it as long as he makes her happy

[purplepuddlesuwu]

Brambleclaw should have been a medicine cat... Hear me out.

Bramblekit is being abused by his clan mates because of his father being a murder. Fireheart chose him over a MEDICINE CAT. Who is seen as the most useful clan member right next to the leader. Of course Bramblekit would feel guilty and regret living that day.

His sister leaves the clan to keep being a warrior but in another clan where she wouldn't be judged as harshly for being the daughter of Tigerstar. Bramblepaw stays but not to be a warrior but to fix the mistakes his father made by becoming s medicine cat. He goes to Cinderpelt first because of course he doesn't wanna tell his current mentor his thoughts he still believes Fireheart hates him just like his other clan mates. So Cinderpelt here's him out and comforts him and agrees to talk to Fireheart and Bluestar on his behalf. (I believe Bramblepaw would have bad anxiety and would always have others talk for him on his behalf)

Fireheart is a bit upset and hurt but he understands. Bluestar sneers that it could make it easier for him to kill him clan mates and Cinderpelt the bad bitch she is is like "So what's the difference between him being the medicine cat and Yellowfang? Wasn't she a Shadowclan cat before you took her in as our medicine cat :T"

Of course Bluestar would argue she had no choice because Spottedleaf was dead. But Cinderpelt just raises her eye brow like "oh so you thought making a Shadowclan cat our medicine cat during a time of war between them was a good idea".

Bluestar mentally flips Cinderpelt off but let's Bramblepaw be her apprentice.

I can see him being so happy and clinging to Cinderpelt like she's his new big sister. Anyone tries to talk smack to him and Cinderpelt is just like "Make my little brother cry and I'll put death berries in your fresh kill c:"

Bramblepaw of course would hear about Tigerstar being the reason why his mentor is disabled and why she had to go from warrior training to medicine cat training and he would once again feel guilty.

But Cinderpelt would comfort him saying that it was still her choice in the end to help her clanmates just like what he is doing now. So this brings them even closer together having a strong bond.

LIKE IMAGINE

I bet Cinderpelt would also tell him the story of of she told his dad to stfu and lick these half clan kits and he would just look at her like she's the coolest cat in all the clans. She would be the BEST big sister.

I believe she would still give him the name Brambleclaw. Why? Her reason would be "You will use your new claws to mark a new path for yourself. You will claw away your fathers legacy and make your own. You are your fathers son there's no escaping that you are kin not the same cats. The name " Claw" is to not tie you to your father but giving you a chance to RIP HIS LEGACY APART and create your own" And boy he would cry right in front of all the other medicine cats. He would cry and hug her thanking her for giving him a chance to make his own path.

Like come seeing Brambleclaw as a medicine cat that looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll is just PERFECT.

OH and she would still get Leafpaw to train. Her and Brambleclaw would train her. This would be funny asf because Squirrelpaw would always be trying to speak with her sister and Brambleclaw would just be like "child please this den is not big enough for all of us don't you have warrior apprentice duties to do? " Squrrielpaw would spend a lot of time with both of them and would slowly develop a crush on the huge tabby that legit looks like he is built to fight but constantly is covered in herb leaves and flowers and looks super soft like his mother.

Brambleclaw wouldn't notice tho because he still thinks everyone outside of the medicine cat den hates him. 😔

Oh and he would have a very good and healthy relationship with Mothwing. She would tell him about her lack of belief in star clan and about Hawkfrost abusing her and he would do everything in his power to protect his sister. But similarly in the same way Hawkfrost did faking starclan messages. He would fake messages showing that Hawkfrost was dangerous and could not be trusted warning Firestar and Leopardstar. Cause he couldn't get Starclan to help him out due to Mothwing lack of belief so he takes control and gets Hawkfrost exiled some how.

(－‸ლ)ᴳᴼˢᴴ Brambleclaw Medicine cat AU is a must

[bonefall]

I wanted to ask something queer because it’s pride month but I can’t think of anything… do you have any queer bb rewrite stuff to talk about?

HERE, have a queer jumble of a bunch of the gay changes in BB;

As far back as DOTC, Thunder Storm was transmasc. His childhood best friend is also his lover; Lightning Cry.

There is a third gender in Clan Culture; Meewa. Gray Wing was Meewa and to this day, the role is associated with parenthood and wisdom.

Bumble and Turtle Heart were mates.

The Clanmew parental terms are decoupled from gender; the Mi is the primary parent, a Ba is a secondary.

For an example; Breezepelt is the Mi of his litters, Harestar and Heathertail were both Ba.

In Clanmew, Harestar had so many Ys in his warrior name (Yywayayiaoyyr) that Breezepelt got the kits to call him Yya.

Bluestar was queer. She had strange relationships with almost everything personal, but the only thing that matters is how much she LOVED her friends and how far she would go for them

The entire Forget-me-not friend group was queer in some ways.

And Bluestar’s friend Rosetail, turns out she's aromantic!

She loves romance, matchmaking, but eventually realized she doesn't like being in one. She just likes the idea a lot.

So of course Thistleclaw was PISSED when his sister claimed Queen’s Rights and adamantly refused to name a father.

She matched up her son Redtail with Runningwind, I like to think she was a very "when am i getting grandkits" kind of mom

Redtail was trans, but also gave birth to his children. That was Sandstorm and Longtail.

Redtail's transness was why Bluestar gave Dustpaw to him, she could see that Dust was working something out and hoped that Red would help

Dustpelt is genderqueer! He doesn't conform to the expectations of toms for his society; construction is largely a molly activity.

One-eye was a legendary builder in her time. It was a high honor when she came out of retirement to mentor him, when she was nearly 20 years old no less!

Cinderpelt was a lesbian, but there wasn't really anyone in the Clan she was interested in. Meh.

I do want to write a little scene where she goes to BloodClan to learn about mobility devices to help Wildfur, and has an AWOOGA moment at Cody

Leafpool and Mothwing are in love with each other, and look forward to every meeting. But they serve their Clans above all. The yearning.

I am very partial to Daisy x Squirrelflight, loooong in the future, after Squirrelflight has found fulfillment in her family and mentorships.

Conversely the untapped potential of Spiderleg x Bramblestar is unmatched. Nightmare husbands, this is the funniest thing I've ever heard of

Heartbreaking! the worst people you know have gotten gay married

Brokenstar and Runningnose were so gay I don't even have words for it, there's homosexual and then there's whatever the hell is going on over there

"My childhood best friend is a manifested curse and I would do anything for him, so I dedicated my whole life to becoming a more ruthless and brutal asset to serve his wants and desires, rejecting the stars and walking into the netherworld with glee, and only finding that it is hell because he isn't there. When you look between us, it's impossible to tell which of us was the monster, and which was the man, and yet I have never made a choice that I wouldn't make again."

Blackstar was aromantic! Russetfur was his lifelong best friend and partner, her death devastated him

He had flings and friends with benefits, though. Specifically, he's homosexual/aromantic.

Russetfur was gay too, I'm not sure if she ever had a wife though

I haven't drawn her yet but I see her as butch. Also she had large eyebrows.

Rowanclaw, honor sired for Newtspeck, was transtom

His apprentice, Talonclaw, survived the mauling because Smokefall did not die in the mountain this time around! They had a summer wedding

Irony struck when Rowan's kid Tigerheart also ended up being trans, but transmolly

Funny coincidence that everyone around Rowan ends up being queer

Tigerheart, who later becomes Heartstar, was in love with Dovewing from the moment they were apprentices on the Beaver Quest, before she even hatched

Dovewing dated Bumblestripe, even choosing him and ThunderClan over the instability of running off with Tigerheart

But when she got pregnant she SKEDADDLED

Lightleap and Shadowsight are biologically Bumble's, but Heartstar adopted them immediately

Heartstar is incredibly smug about this. "My wife. My kids. Cry about it"

Ivypool went through something similar, in a pretty bad relationship with Blossomfall and eventually getting with Fernsong

Only Fernsong is NOT smug, he's an ex-kittypet who joined during ThunderClan's Tempest and BOY HOWDY did he not want to make waves

But now he's dating the deputy's grandchild (thru Lionblaze), has an angry Blossomfall on his ass, and.... it's worth it lmao, have you seen his wife? Marvelous

He is the Mi of the children, this is the life for him

Thriftear and Plumstone are gay

Over in RiverClan, Hawkfrost and Reedwhisker were an item and were going to get serious... but then, well. Hawkfrost went through TNP and ended up dead.

In SkyClan, Violetshine, Dragonfly, and Tree are a polycule

I'm not quite sure what's going on with Echosong, Leafstar, and Billystorm. But Leaf and Billy are together, and I think Leaf has a thing with Echo. But Echo and Billy are not together, and Echo isn't involved with the kittens.

This isn't a queer thing but Sharptooth's wife Cherrytail was spayed. I think Hawkwing and co were surrogated by Echosong, but I'm not sure yet

But I do know that Cherry did not birth those kittens

Over in WindClan, I combined Jake and Sparrow into one character. Tallstar’s Collapse is reworked into Talltail traveling around with him and his group, until ultimately, he realizes it's not that easy to leave his Clan behind

I want to approach it as a tragedy, that he couldn't stay somewhere he was truly loved and happy

He was raising kids with Jake, two orphans they found. One of them followed him, even though he tried to tell him to stay with Jake and his sibling

That kid becomes Flytail, and then Flylight as an honor title

Sunstrike and Furzepelt are gay, and Furze is going to be an AVOS save thanks to Brushblaze, Breezepelt, Harestar, Heathertail, Crowfeather, and two more cats I haven't picked yet

Speaking of Brushblaze, Leo is an ex-BloodClan trader who joined WindClan to be with Onewhisker

It fell apart and he's been bitter about it ever since

Onestar is a disaaaaaaaster

He had a fling with Firestar before Fire realized he was aromantic, and it never would have worked anyway since Firestar was leading a clan

He always had an excuse for why he wasn't doing PDA with Brush, but while he was going through apprenticeship (despite being a qualified adult cat, very frustrating) Onewhisker was seeing Smoke

I kinda just want to remove Onewhisker having Whitetail as a mate entirely, I already fixed the apprenticeship thing but I kinda just like him having someone honor dam for him and he raised Heathertail alone

And lastly, Firestar

Firestar is totally aromantic.

He honor sired Sandstorm's kittens and raised them with her, because she is a deeply reliable friend and ally. They're in a QPR!

There's definitely a couple I missed (toadnettlepool, Sedgecreek x Greenflower) but that's enough for now

[wc-confessions]

ALRIGHT. |+| Inhales deeply |+| OK. So a while ago I was thinking like: “Hey, Spiderleg isn’t the WORST parent ever.” He was the dad, n stuff, dads usually dont raise cubs/kits/animal babies. What about Rainflower, Millie, Lizardstripe, and well, you get it! Spiderleg didn’t exactly dislike Rosekit and Toadkit, he just.. didn’t FEEL the need to raise them, as Daisy could do this herself. While we’re at it, stop harassing Daisy. No, she’s not whiny, no, she’s not annoying, yes, I love her and ship her with Squirrelflight and Tawnypelt, deal with it. She is probably the (one of) the best moms in the series. Much like Bluestar, Ferncloud, Nightcloud, Mistystar, Fernsong(?) etc.. (why do the good moms always have -star, -cloud, or -fern or anything plant related in their names?) back to Spiderleg, the dude had his choice, and he made it. He wasn’t a bad parent (or at least, not the WORST parent) Speaking of characters that I hate: I hate Moonflower. She was dumb, she was annoying, she was bratty, the list goes on. Moonflower chose Stormtail, even though the latter was always like, neglecting his kits, blah, blah, blah, bullies Goosefeather as a kit.. ok, so Spiderleg “neglected” his kits too, but he was a supporting character, unlike Stormtail who had major interference in the plot!! And yet, Moonflower defended Stormtail when he was cold with Bluekit and Snowkit. I would like to see Moonflower’s reaction in StarClan now that she probably knows he only cares about Bluestar’s and Snowfur’s warrior status.

Tl;Dr: Parents suck

[embersoftheforest]

For the character ask... rusty/firepaw

What I love about them: Firepaw is observant and insightful. He's easily the most observant of our protagonists - which you'll hopefully be able to tell from how detailed his chapters will be compared to the others!

What I hate about them: Though Firepaw listens, he does become very assured that his way is the right way, and fuck anyone who thinks differently. He also is very much the sort who has to do it himself. Delegation??? He's never heard of it!

Favorite Moment/Quote: (a teaser for chapter 5) "Once you've accepted the life of a kittypet, you can never be a true warrior."

"Bluestar told me that, too. I don't want to be like that - and I won't be. Henry doesn't reflect on me." Every bit of Firepaw choosing to be a Clan cat is really characterizing for me. That choice is really at the core of who he is, and he makes it several times over.

What I would like to see more focus on: can Firepaw get a consequence like One Time???

Less focus on: Firepaw. Lmao. I wish not everything in the whole forest centered around him, and in our rewrite it won't. He's still a protagonist, and he's still prophesized, and he certainly still thinks everything is about him wink but it's not. Other things happen, and as much as he gets his sticky little claws in as much as he can, I'm excited to let other cats be the main characters of their own stories, instead of every cat being a supporting character for Firestar

Fave pairing: Sandstorm/Fireheart! Not to be boring. Sandstorm will bring a lot to their relationship in terms of holding Fireheart accountable and ensuring he realizes not everything is about him. On the other hand, Fireheart is really good at making sure Sandstorm takes care of herself as well as others, and helping her remember her value when she's feeling down.

Favorite friendship: Greypaw and Firepaw! I'm excited to have more of them and their adventures. They support each other really well, with Firepaw's observant nature and Greypaw's support and teamwork really working to foil the other (Greypaw might be less observant than Shadepaw and that's saying something!)

NOTP: Spottedleaf/Firepaw. They interact like two times in canon when she's alive. It's just Firepaw thinking she's pretty. Why did they canonize it so hard that they made Firestar's mate jealous of a dead cat who was forbidden from having a mate?? I'm way more interested in their platonic relationship as Spottedleaf sees Firepaw and his prophecy as a source of proof that she was a good enough medicine cat, and he sees her as one of his mentors.

Favorite headcanon: Firepaw just really loves his two moms. Yellowfang and Bluestar are his moms. I will not be taking constructive criticism on this front xD

[sunset-embers-warriors-designs]

I am too tired to draw right now but I want to talk more about my Darkstripe and Longtail are brothers AU

- Darkkit and Longkit are the two oldest sons of Willowpelt and Whitestorm. Willowpelt and her littermates are very close so the kits grow up visiting with Spottedleaf and Redtail a lot, as well as Bluestar. They’re a very competitive pair of brothers and they’re always competing to impress their clanmates. Longtkit is a lot like Whitestorm; Kind, curious, and forgiving, and Darkkit reminds Willowpelt of Swiftbreeze; Sassy, brave, and stubborn

- When they’re apprenticed, Darkpaw gets Tigerclaw as his mentor and Longpaw gets Goldenflower. Tigerclaw recognizes that Darkpaw is Thistleclaw’s kin (grandson) so he’s inclined to focus more on battle training for the sake of his former mentor’s “legacy.” Goldenflower is a much less devious mentor and is focused on taking Longpaw’s tail into account - his tail is a huge advantage for balance but could also cause trouble while hunting if he lets it drag on the floor. Sometimes Darkpaw and Longpaw get to train together and thats how Goldenflower and Tigerclaw start talking and become friends.

- Darkpaw experiences much higher standards and more difficult training sessions than his brother, but he manages to just barely keep up with Tigerclaw’s demands. Darkpaw begins to get smug - He’s a lot better at most battle moves than Longpaw is. Longpaw’s noticed his brother’s battle skill too. Both apprentices attribute Darkpaw’s success to Tigerclaw’s teaching, and they both look up to him a lot (Though Goldenflower is still Longpaw’s favourite teacher; he likes that she’s patient and likes to joke around).

- Darkstripe and Longtail become warriors about half a year before Into the Wild begins. Goldenflower retreats to the nursery around this time and has Swiftkit and Lynxkit (Patchpelt’s kits, though he doesn’t have any part in raising them. Goldenflower’s like a single mom and Patchpelt is just a donor; She and Tigerclaw are still friends but they haven’t considered being mates yet). Longtail sometimes finds the time to visit her and her kits, but between his warrior duties and how many naps the kits take a day he doesn’t see his former mentor as much as he’d like. Longtail spends most of his days with Darkstripe, who spends most of his time following around Tigerclaw on patrols. Thus the Tigerclaw posse forms

- Graykit, Darkstripe and Longtail’s little brother, is born. Graykit is a blend of Willowpelt, Swiftbreeze, and Snowfur: Brave, goofy, and sweet. Since the difference in age is so great, Darkstripe and Longtail aren’t super close with him. Longtail is Graykit’s favourite brother though (He makes fun of Darkstripe for always scowling)

- Longtail begins to adopt a couple of Tigerclaw and Darkstripe’s opinions as his own - Thunderclan deserves only the strongest warriors, and outsiders suck. He’s certainly not as into it as Darkstripe is because Tigerclaw has been feeding him that nonsense for much longer, but Longtail believes it enough to challenge Rusty, who is like a baby, to a fight in front of everyone. When Longtail loses, Spottedleaf, his aunt, scolds him for his actions and it actually stings him a little bit.

- Redtail’s death smacks both brothers upside the head. Their uncle had been there for a good portion of their kithood, and their first role model. Tigerclaw claims to be the one to have avenged Redtail’s death at Sunningrocks, which earns him more points with Darkstripe and Longtail. 

- Darkstripe takes in Dustpaw as his apprentice and tries to mimic Tigerclaw’s training method, but he’s actually not a very good teacher. Longtail tries to offer advice but Darkstripe’s pride won’t let him take it.

- This AU works in collaboration with my other AU about Dustpelt, Ravenpaw, and Sandstorm all being littermates taken in to Thunderclan after they were found on the border. Darkstripe is particularly hard on Dustpaw because he was born an outsider, and has him turn on Ravenpaw for the sake of proving his loyalty. The three kits were found on the border with Shadowclan, which sparks rumors about them possibly being Shadowclan kits, and in turn gives reason to Tigerclaw’s lies about Ravenpaw being a Shadowclan spy.

- Goldenflower specifically requests Longtail as Swiftpaw’s mentor, which Longtail is very humbled by. He sees a lot of Goldenflower in Swiftpaw and the two work really well as a team. 

- When it’s revealed that Tigerclaw’s a traitor, Darkstripe and Longtail are absolutely stunned. When Tigerclaw is asking his allies to go into exile with him, Darkstripe initially refuses. According to what Tigerclaw taught him, Thunderclan was what mattered most, and it needed strong warriors. If Tigerclaw wasn’t going to be around anymore, Darkstripe figured he would need to be there. However, Darkstripe soon realizes that he’s not as strong as Tigerclaw is, and he can’t seem to build up that same reputation. He falls into thinking that perhaps Tigerclaw was what made Thunderclan great, not the other way around. Longtail however completely disowns Tigerclaw as a role model the second it’s revealed. He recognizes that everything Tigerclaw ever said about Thunderclan demanding loyalty and strength was never actually true, thats just what Tigerclaw was demanding. At first, the shock of losing their group leader brings Longtail and Darkstripe closer as brothers, but after the dust has settled and Darkstripe begins to express some of his pro-Tigerstar thoughts, the brothers begin to drift apart.

- Swiftpaw’s death is Longtail’s waking nightmare. Not only has he failed his student in the worst way, but he failed Goldenflower. He can’t bear to look her in the eye. The fact Tigerclaw lead the dogs there makes it even more horrifying.

- Willowpelt and Whitestorm have their third litter of Rainkit, Sootkit, and Sorrelkit. Again, Longtail and Darkstripe aren’t super involved with their siblings but they visit sometimes. Longtail visits more than Darkstripe does. Rainkit is like a carbon copy of Willowpelt, being mellow, sweet, and attentive, Sootkit is a lot like Adderfang, strong silent type with very sharp eyes, and Sorrelkit is somewhere between Whitestorm and Willowpelt; Adventurous, friendly, and curious. It’s Sorrelkit’s sense of adventure that leads her to follow her older brother, Darkstripe, out of camp. Darkstripe poisoning Sorrelkit gets him swiftly disowned by his whole family. Longtail feels hollow - he’s lost two cats he really thought he could trust, and it’s gonna take a while to reconnect with the cats he’s been putting second place to Darkstripe.

- Darkstripe becomes part of Shadowclan/Tigerclan under Tigerstar’s rule, but Darkstripe doesn’t feel any better. Despite being part of Tigerstar’s crew again, he doesn’t feel strong, and he clearly takes a backseat to some of the Shadowclan born cats such as Blackfoot. Darkstripe spends the remainder of his life chasing this illusion of strength that he gets from being Tigerstar’s ally

- The battle with Bloodclan is where this AU gets COOL okay. Longtail is the one to intercept Darkstripe’s attack on Firestar. This fight is the first time they’ve seen each other since Darkstripe’s exile. Longtail hopes Darkstripe will give in and surrender, but Darkstripe won’t let up, and he’s still a much fiercer fighter than his brother. Longtail doesn’t have a choice but to kill him. During Whitestorm’s death, Graystripe and Firestar are still the ones to be with him during his death, but instead of nominating Graystripe as the next deputy, Whitestorm gives the much more ambiguous “Make my son deputy.” Firestar just assumes it’s Graystripe since Graystripe is his closest friend, but Whitestorm might have been suggesting Longtail. 

- After the battle is over, Longtail finds Willowpelt. He tells her Darkstripe is dead, but leaves out the detail of how he died. She doesn’t need to know that. When they head home, Longtail makes the time to be more present for his youngest siblings since Whitestorm is gone now. During Firestar’s quest, he loses his sight and his mother all in a very short period of time. This is a bad era for Longtail.

- The end of new prophecy and the time before power of three is also a bad time for Longtail. Graystripe is missing, and Sootfur, Rainwhisker, and Goldenflower have all died. Longtail tries to be there for Sorreltail. He visits with his nieces like Redtail and Spottedleaf used to visit him. Graystripe’s return is joyous though, and Longtail, Graystripe, and Sorreltail end up with a nice reunion. They’ll never really understand each other completely because they’ve all lived such different lives, but they all enjoy each other’s company. Longtail is also a good uncle to Graystripe and Millie’s kits; That’s why Briarpaw wouldn’t leave the elders den without Longtail right before the tree fell.

- In the battle with the dark forest, Longtail finds Darkstripe once again. They fight, and like last time, Longtail really hopes Darkstripe will give up. He doesn’t want to have to kill his littermate twice. This time, Darkstripe does give up, scared of being completely erased from existence, and he slinks back into the dark forest. That’s the last time they’ll ever see each other. Darkstripe spends the rest of his dark forest existence in an even deeper personal hell - Tigerstar has completely vanished, and Darkstripe is completely alone with nobody but himself.