#two while kits and the rest while apprentices

[arolesbianism]

Thinks oh so hard abt the spiraling upwards clan founders, especially the birchclan founders. Silly lil kitties who's pasts are drenched in blood with the primary regret of not drawing it sooner

[thunderc1an]

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Snowclan, a clan in perpetual snow.

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This is a redraw of a fanclan I made in middleschool, the first redraw of this clan I made was in 2021, I revamped my designs and reworked some concepts slightly.

Snowclan: Nestled in a land of seemingly perpetual snow (a mountain), this clan stands as the sole group in its frigid territory. While there is another clan, Wheatclan, it lies almost a two-day trek away on paw. During the full moon, both clans converge in a single spot, the crumbling twoleg nest. Both clans rest in this middle point before returning to their respective clans. The cats of Snowclan are notably welcoming to newcomers; they recognize the challenges posed by their harsh environment and are eager to offer and receive assistance.

Character pronouns, age + miscellaneous information. 

-Troutstar (??? moons, he/him) A wise old cat that carries a mysterious past; many have forgotten the leader who came before him. He is both caring and patient, and he takes immense pride in his role as the grandfather of Sweetbasil, his greatest treasure.

-Cheesepelt (around 40 moons, he/him). The prophecy cat, a former kittypet who joined the clan recently, was appointed deputy almost immediately, much to the displeasure of the previous deputy. He doesn't have much desire to assume the role of deputy or become the clan's next leader; he's an anxious individual but means well. He is also the father of Sweetbasil's upcoming kits, a closely kept secret.

-Sweetbasil (44 moons, she/her). Medicine cat apprentice. Caring and compassionate, yet occasionally sharp-tongued. Currently expecting. The clan is beginning to notice, but they remain respectful and quiet about it, even if whispers linger in the air.

-Honeydew (81 moons, he/him). Snowclan's medicine cat and the twin brother of Cloudflight. Honeydew is the true father of Rabbitleap. He is a gentle and soft-spoken cat, known for his kindness and love towards everyone around him, though he is not quickly taken advantage of. His heart was captured by a kittypet named Robin. With Cloudflight's support, he brought their daughter, Rabbitkit, into the clan. Cloudflight takes on the role of Rabbitleap's adoptive father.

-Littlebat (125 moons, she/her). The previous deputy who harbors resentment toward an inexperienced individual who took her hard-earned role. She is the mother of Redberry and Ashbreeze and mates with Suntonge. Her parenting style is marked by a tough-love approach. Her family's linage within the clan is older than that of 4 generations of leaders.

-Suntongue (123 moons, he/him). Having a deepely content character. Those of all ages come to him seeking a warm, fatherly embrace. He's a formidable warrior but possesses a forgiving and merciful nature towards his foes. Proud father of Redberry and Ashbreeze. He arrived to the clan as a kit accompanied by kin.

-Bearthroat (around 83 moons, he/they). The biggest cat in the clan, known for their impressive claws. They came to the clan as an outsider during a fierce snowstorm and decided to stay. Though reserved and speak little, they have formed friendships within the clan. They are the biological parent of Applepaw and Pepperpaw.

-Cloudflight (81 moons, he/him). Boisterous and cheerful, this cat has a wonderfully friendly disposition. He shares a deep bond with his brother, and the two are practically inseparable. Naturally, he eagerly stepped into the role of adoptive father when his brother made the request. He treats Rabbitleap as if she were his own child, and treats Wooljump in a smiliar manner. His grandparents were former loners who integrated themselves into Snowclan life.

-Cardinalcall (82 moons, any pronouns). A rather snobbish cat who relishes sharing gossip with others. With a distant attitude, they often come across as self-centered. After having the desire for 'perfect' kits, they approached Bearthroat to ask him to sire her litter. Although they are not mates, it was agreed that Bearthroat would take on a parental role for both Applepaw and Peperpaw. Their family linage within the clan is older than that of Littlebat.

-Redberry (37 moons, they/them). Reserved yet not shy, this cat approaches the world with a healthy dose of skepticism. They enjoy asking questions, even if not all have clear answers. With a sharp intellect, they occasionally overlook their own insights. Their bond with their sister, Ashbreeze, is particularly strong.

-Rabbitleap (20 moons, she/her) (The main character I focus on) Cheerful and genuinely kind-hearted. She suspects that Cloudflight isn't her biological father. Yet, the truth about her origins remained a mystery until she encountered a kittypet named Robin during the early days of her apprenticeship. Robin revealed herself as her mother, and they quickly formed a close bond. However, as Rabbitleap sought out Robin one fateful night, she stumbled upon the clan's medicine cat, Honeydew, with his tail entwined with Robin's. Confusion washed over her, leaving her uncertain about interpreting the scene. For now, she remained silent, simply observing and waiting to see what would unfold.

-Butterflybounce (21 moons, she/her) She possesses a charming and somewhat clumsy personality, and her closest friends are Rabbitleap and Wooljump. With her long legs, she tends to stumble and trip over her own feet. Despite the rare blooming of flowers in Snowclan, she has a deep affection for them. She also has a crush on a beautiful she-cat kittypet named Diamond. She hails from a long lineage of Snowclan warriors, but she is the last member of her family, as her parents died when she was still young.

-Shadowpaw (9 moons, he/him) A reserved but focused individual. Despite the warm welcome he received from Snowclan, he still feels the need to demonstrate his value. He is originally from Wheatclan, yet due to an incident he was brought to Snowclan at the start of his apprenticeship. (Mentor: Bearthroat)

-Pepperpaw (7 moons, she/her). Arrogant and very particular about following rules. She believes she is destined for leadership, influenced by her family's long lineage as Snowclan cats; a trait notable in a clan that openly welcomes loners and kittypets into their ranks. (Mentor: Redberry)

-Applepaw (7 moons, he/him) A lively young cat who believes that everyone and everything is his friend. His relationship with Pepperpaw is somewhat strained, as he never cared for his linage nor perfection. (Official Mentor: Ashbreeze, Step-in Mentor: Rabbitleap)

-Ashbreeze (37 moons, she/her) She lost the use of her vocal cords at a young age but has developed her own unique way of communicating with others. Strong-willed and determined, she is currently expecting. There’s some speculation about the father of her litter being a loner that has been recently seen wondering around the clan territiory.

-Wooljump (20 moons, he/they). A laid-back and easygoing cat. His closest friends are Rabbitleap and Butterflybounce. They aren't particularly fond of the warrior lifestyle and believe that being a permanent queen would suit them better. They found within clan territory as a kit, their origin is not known.

-Graywood (??? moons, she/they) Little is known about Graywood, but one thing is certain: their tales are among the finest. There is a running joke of figuring out whether Graywood is older than Troutstar.

[animatewarriorcats]

Puddleshine! He is the son of Pinenose and Spikefur, supposed to be mentored by Littlecloud. He is chosen by Rowanstar to be medicine cat as a kit, as Littlecloud starts to decline in health due to age, and has to be instead mentored by Leafpool who is allowed to treat Littlecloud and teach the apprentice as an emergency. It's disputed briefly if the kit is fit to be a medicine cat as it's unknown if he has any connection to starclan, but Rowanstar insists that he can learn to heal as well as any despite lacking a sign for his appointment from Starclan. Leafpool mentors him for about two moons, which is a massively shortened mentorship for medicine cats. He is a full medicine cat when the new sickness breaks out in Shadowclan and knows that the herbs he was taught cure whitecough don't have the effect they should. He asks his leader if he can ask for outside help and is told not to seek it, but Rowanstar says no. He then is shown in a dream while napping the lungwort needed to cure Yellowcough by Runningnose. He tries to lead a herb seeking mission to the moor but is shut down by Onestar who threatens violence. He then treats his clan as they slowly succumb and waits for the approval to collect lungwort, which only comes after the deaths of Wasptail, Kinkfur, Crowfrost, and Rowanstar several times.

When the rogues come to take over shadowclan Puddleshine intends to leave with his leader, but Spikefur convinces him to stay with the rest of Shadowclan, with the appeal that they may need him if yellowcough returns. He survives living under Darktail by being valuable, but is not trusted by the rogue leader and is only allowed to help sick and injured cats sparingly. When Darktail is deposed, and Rowanstar struggles to lead a only slightly reformed rebellious Shadowclan Puddleshine is the voice of reason that convinces the senior warriors to merge with Skyclan to preserve their clan. He gets caught in a hunting trap and gains an infection that resists treatment, and is saved by Alderheart who treats him with seedless deathberries.

He mentors Shadowsight, and struggles with the loss of connection to starclan, seeking comfort in the fact that his apprentice is still having visions. When it is revealed that Shadowsight hadn't been receiving his visions from starclan Puddleshine starts to doubt his apprentice and his skills as a medicine cat. He still treats hims with compassion and heals him from his attack by the impostor, but Puddleshine is the cat that suggests that Shadowsight treat the impostors wounds as both punishment and additional training. Despite the setbacks though Puddleshine continues to be an encouraging source for Shadowsight, even when Tigerstar and Mothwing insist the young cat have 24hr supervision. After Shadowsight returns to the moonpool from the Dark forest after the events of The Place of No Stars, Puddleshine speaks up among the gathered cats in favor of Shadowsights theory that hope can defeat Ashfur and restore a connection to Starclan.

He has little mention in the Starless clan arc, but is still a skilled and respected medicine cat. Frostpaw remarks that he is kind and warm but that Shadowsight is strange and weird. I wish that Puddleshine was used more as a connection to her in that he did not originally have a connection to starclan, but that was formed over time, and that his first real dream outside the moonpool happened after he had been named a full medicine cat. But! it's fine I guess

[saltsongwc]

This was inspired by THIS ask I got about Tiger and his dynamic's, which I'll make more of later

And a little writting to acompany the art under the read more

The moss was starting to grow back, snow melting and allowing the new herbs and plants to finally reclaim the soil of new leaf, Tigerclaw didn't enjoy this step in the changing of Leaf-Bare to Newleaf, mostly because it made walking uncomfortable, with the wet snow clinging to his paws and fur.

It gave him an excuse to stay in his den when the storages were full, which he appreciated, the other excuse was the nursery duties that he'd rather perform instead of the apprentices, just to walk between his den and a cozier one.

Right now, there were only two cats sharing the nursery, Frostfur was sleeping the furthest away, her tail curled around her as she sleeped peacefully, 'Any day now' he reminded himself, he was getting the storages ready and extra moss to welcome the new clan members, he chuckles a bit under his breath, Lionheart would stand pacing around camp whenever not on patrol.

His eyes landed on the second shape, the golden molly whose fluffy tail was twitching up and down, Goldenflower had been the only queen through Leaf Bare, and her only company before Frostfur was the tiny kit currently entertained with her tail. Her eyes shifted away from the kit for a moment and gave him a purr in greeting, which he returned, pacing around her landed him right on the kit's field of vision.

"Tiger! Tiger!" the black and white tom used his mother's tail as support, staring at the larger tabby with glee "Can we play? Can we please?"

He sighed in faked dissapoitment, dropping the moss by Goldenflower's bed and shaking his head "It's sunset Swiftkit, how about tomorrow?"

The promise is enough to stop any dissapointment from the kit, who just exclaims "At dawn! Okay!" and curls around his mother's belly, knowing sleep just makes the sun come faster.

Tigerfoot smiles, staring at the small cat while he sits down, before his gaze returns back to the mother.

"...Stop smirking like that"

Goldenflower chuckles and shakes her head "You know, I think you'd be an excellent father Tigerfoot"

"Ha! Imagine a kit with my face" his ear flicks "I bring you moss and that's how you repay me? Mockery? Shame Golden, I thought better of you"

"If you claim to be friend you should expect this from me"

Her gaze returned to the small kit, now snowing peacefully and pawing the air, dreams already claiming his eyes, Tigerfoot caught however, the worried expression in her eyes.

"Mouse for your thoughts?" He asks, lying beside her in comfort while staring at the kit as well. Goldenflower hummed, licking Swiftkit's head gently.

"He's so... small"

The words echoed back to her first time seeing Swiftkit, and his sister before she passed, they had been so lucky Tigerfoot recalls, an especially harsh storm, he spent the night protectively standing guard by the nursery entrance, afraid anything would lurk inside and take the kits... It took one.

"...He's smaller than the average" two moons old, the kit didn't look more than one.

Some nights, he thinks of his apprentice days, some days, he's afraid whenever the kit rushes to him and plays with his tail or jumps on his back, it terrifies him.

"He takes it after his father"

Goldenflower had never confided in Tigerfoot who Swiftkit's father might be, while the whispers and gossips from the clan was Patchpelt (and the now elder had never disputed those claims), he was unsure, now, the fear at night is present, the ghost of someone guarding the fragile kit resting by his friend's belly is less paranoia, an active protector, a scourge from his past.

He should seek the cat, the black shape, but tomorrow he promised Swiftkit he would play with him at dawn, and tonight he wants to guard the den, to make sure the last of Leaf Bare's winds do not take the only kit as well.

[skyclan-funny-name-squad]

Thinking of each clan having different cultures around mentoring

In Thunderclan mentoring is very group orientated with younger warriors being preferred as they better remember being an apprentice, shows the clan trusts them, and enforces a sense of duty. The rest of the clan helps ensure that any mistakes in mentoring are straightened out and the mentor understands what went wrong. Getting a much older mentor is a sign of you potentially being a troubled apprentice who requires specialized help which has a stigma.

The leader and deputy may mentor apprentices who show exceptional talent or may be in danger and are the exception to the stigma as the leader is the embodiment of the entire clans presence.

In Windclan mentoring is very much familial, reinforcing family ties and believing that the already present relationship will ease them better into being an apprentice and make it easier to pass on values. This has roots in the tunnelers vs runners as it was expected for kits to take on the same role as their parents. Close family friends are also allowed if you start to run out of family members.

In the case their are no family members alive and theres no close family friends, the leader or deputy is to take on the duty as the leader is the parent to all cats.

In Shadowclan mentoring is a rare honor, only the best of the best get apprentices. The territory is dangerous and a very uninformed apprentice can easily die, the mentor must be able to navigate those dangers like breathing to compensate and pass on that information, reinforcing a sense of pride and status. A Shadowclan leader would rather give a warrior two apprentices then give one to a warrior who has not shown themselves capable.

If no warrior is currently capable the deputy will take on the duty while the leader will pick the most capable warriors and personally train them until they are capable as they leader is the most practiced survivor.

In Riverclan mentoring is a very isolated thing, the bond of mentor and apprentice is sacred and demands a sense of secrecy and trust. Teaching apprentices the importance of independence but also loyalty. Training is often done one on one unless needing to train with others for scenarios involving multiple cats. Trying to intervene is a serious taboo, though if you have genuine concerns of the mentor abusing this bond speaking to the leader or medicine cat privately is allowed. Leaders can intervene though and may sit in on lessons, as the leader is the most trusted secret keeper

In new Skyclan mentoring is a lot looser but is settling into the idea of a mentor should have similar histories or beliefs to the apprentice to better understand them and show them the potential they have even with their troubles. (IE a kit who has nightmares should be places with a warrior that has nightmares)

Meanwhile the leader is beginning to shape into the one who understands all histories to take on the role of mentor for cats who are truly one of a kind cases as they can call upon the knowledge of cats like them who came before them.

Old Skyclan mentoring involved a challenge against a second candidate, whoever could win the challenge first got the apprentice to show the value of strength and skill and also that the apprentice is valued, with the leader and deputy always competing against each other if one wants an apprentice as a show that leaders are on a level of strength and skill normal warriors cannot fairly compete against, the fact that the leader is also the one setting the challenge and is thus cheating immensely is not discussed

[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 9 (Part 1)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Barleywave finds the rogue he sired Warblerkit with while marking the border. He tells her the truth of what happened to Warblerkit. Barleywave apologizes, and said he should have never hurt them like this. After a long talk clearing up misunderstandings of Clan life and what ForestClan wishes to be, she agrees to join - for now. River decides to take on a clan name with the first snowfall that gracefully falls around them: Riversnow.

(Barleywave, warrior, male, 38 moons) (Riversnow, warrior, female, 58 moons)

---

Barleywave felt stars-damned cold. Leafbare had obviously set, with the Clan waking up to a thin layer of ice in their clean water bowls. It hadn't snowed yet, but everyone could sense that it was about to very soon - especially with the sky painted pale grey, masking the sun. Cats were rummaging around camp, trying to huddle near the cooking fire or top their nests with tanned pelts. Nobody would want to go on patrol once the snow started, which is why he volunteered to go check the border.

He had to get approval from Iciclepool to do it, as Redstar was still acting jumpy and paranoid about anyone leaving camp - especially after what happened to Shiverpaw and Tree the moon prior. Part of him wanted to shake Redstar and tell her that, StarClan's kits, Tree just took down a Woodcrawler, he thinks the Clan will be fine as long as Tree's given an apprentice and starts teaching the rest of them how to do that. He couldn't blame her, though - Redstar was getting cabin fever and kept telling clanmates that she hated being confined to camp. She felt useless, like she was wasting her time recovering instead of being out in the woods, trying to feed them.

Barleywave was glad that Hopechase did her signature "bullying-into-being-better" tactic, redirecting her to teach Perchkit and Branchkit about ForestClan's history. She's probably the only one who could get away with doing that to Redstar, too.

So now, here he was. Patrolling the border by himself, re-marking necessary points. His constant walking warmed his pelt, granting him some comfort. For a moment, Barleywave allowed his mind to wander.

It was…about a year now, wasn't it? Not quite. It was getting there - once leafbare was over. He met…her. And by extension, eventually Warblerkit.

Barleywave's tail lowered as he allowed the memory to wander. He didn't feel happy about it. But he was alone. No one would see him vulnerable here. Maybe this would be good practice. To confront his feelings, and all that. When else could he do it?

He regrets how they parted. He really did. They were just stressed and trying to find comfort in a dire world. He was also younger, and incredibly stupid. Barleywave scowled as he remembered his younger self's brain turning to useless muck at a pretty she-cat flirting with him. Great StarClan, he was so, so mouse-brained. At least his mouse-brained self had the common sense to feel guilty and responsible when she appeared on their territory two weeks later, pregnant, wild-eyed and gripping on a freshly-killed gopher like it was her lifeline.

He wished he did better. Yes, she didn't want to join the Clan. Yes, he hunted for her - at least, after Redstar caught him taking from the Clan's kill pile - and made sure she was safe under the deck of a Twoleg cabin. But StarClan, he would do anything to erase the image of her standing at the border, holding Warblerkit in her mouth. Barleywave saw how large she was during her pregnancy. She had not borne just a singular kit. But he saw the bruises on her face, the blood coming from her claws snagged with roots, and the dead, distant expression on her face.

He wished he did better. Said something. Asked her to come with him. Instead he asked what the kit's name was, like a frog-brained fool. She said it didn't matter, then turned to leave.

The last thing he said was, "Warbler. His…his name is Warblerkit."

She only twitched her ear once before disappearing.

He wished he did better.

Barleywave sighed deeply, allowing the cold air to fill his lungs and drag him out of his memory. Yep. Feelings still really sucked. Welp, time to kick the begging fish back down into the pond, hunt that some other time. And by some other time, he meant never. Feelings are terrible and he's not doing that again. Back to patrolling, like a normal tom. Yep. Border patrolling, definitely not having a guilt trip. Plus, he's overdue to check his surroundings; the woods were dangerous.

He made his routine awareness check, scenting the air for anything suspicious.

Barleywave paused. Then, his eyes widened and his fur bristled.

You know, he almost wished he smelled a Woodcrawler. Not because he preferred death, but because at least he knew what to do with a Woodcrawler. He would run away and sound the alarm for the camp. Maybe Tree would reveal they were actually a mountain lion, or some fox-dunged thing and would toss it into the lake.

But no. He had to smell her.

Oh StarClan no, he just finished hating himself for five minutes. Why? Why did the universe conspire to make him feel awful?

Barleywave looked across the border, into a set of twig-like bushes. Maybe that was a good spot to hide during any other season, or if it was snowing, but this cat's pelt was…was…

Still as light and flowing as he remembered. A part of him hoped it wasn't her.

"...River?" he meowed. His voice was strained.

There was a tense silence before a cream and white pelt slowly rose and stalked out of the twigs. Their steps were gentle, but calculated, like an owl stalking a mouse from the treetops. Barleywave blinked as he saw the cat's pale blue eyes, and cautious expression.

"...Barley," she greeted simply.

Barleywave froze as he watched River approach the border, and then slowly sit at the threshold, her gaze unwavering. A breeze hissed through the forest, blowing the fur on their pelts gently.

Her eyes were different. They didn't have the spark of curiosity, joy or amusement he remembered. He remembered offering her a strip of jerky once. She looked offended that he'd offer her something so meager, and it took some coaxing, but he remembered how her pupils dilated with pleasant surprise.

Now, her eyes held the same pain he saw the day he took their kit. It was dulled. But it was still there.

Barleywave closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Okay. Okay. Fine. He said he wished he could've done better. Maybe this was his chance.

"...Fancy seeing you here again," he said as he sat down, curling his tail around his paws.

River blinked slowly. She tore her gaze from him and stared at her paws. "I was passing through."

"I hope so. The woods are…"

Barleywave cut his sentence short as he saw River's neck fur rise. He shook his head. "N-Nevermind." He stared at the floor in shame. "I apologize."

Barleywave never knew there was such a thing as a 'sad silence'. But that's the only way he could describe how it felt, sitting on the other side of the border from her.

"...How's Warbler?" River finally asked. She raised her head, her pale blue eyes carrying an unknown feeling.

Oh no.

Barleywave didn't look up from the floor. But somehow, he had the feeling that River's ears were slowly folding at his perpetual silence. He had to say something. He could lie? No. It's too late. He was quiet for too long. The truth? No. She couldn't know. Not that her last kit was murdered by the same things that took his siblings. Warblerkit, why? Why did he try to comfort Olive? Why was he such a mouse-brained kit? A mouse-brained, brave, devoted kit?

The grief he thought he buried in his work all those moons ago resurfaced. His ears folded back and he closed his eyes. He couldn't be better. He couldn't look at her.

"Barleywave, what happened to my son?" River's voice was tight with fear. "To our son?" A surge of anger.

Barleywave opened his mouth, desperate for anything to come out. But he froze.

"You sent him to die." Her voice was seething with rage, her cyan blue eyes like frozen daggers. "You sent him to die, didn't you?"

Barleywave's eyes shot wide open. Did - oh StarClan, did River think they still did apprentice trials?!

She stood up, her claws unsheathed. "You…Clan cats and your monstrous, hateful - "

"No!" he yowled. He saw River inch back. He continued rapidly. "No, StarClan, no! River, I - we don't do apprentice trials! We overthrew the leader that did them specifically because they were cruel!" The dark tom scrambled to his feet. "I'd have brought him to the Twoleg Camp if Redstar dared to do otherwise!"

River glared at Barleywave, her eyes scanning him for deceit. Then, her fur flattened and her expression faltered. It was like prey she had just stalked vanished from under her.

"...What?" she squeaked.

Barleywave saw the pleading desperation and hurt in her eyes. Stars, he - he couldn't lie to her. He wouldn't. That was cruel. She couldn't feel worse than she already did, thinking that he willingly sent their son to die. The truth…the truth had to be better than that. Right?

He…he could do this. He had to talk about this. He had to be better. This was going to hurt, so bad. But he had to. "Last greenleaf. There was…a horrible storm."

River nodded. Wherever she was, the storm must've hit her too.

Barleywave swallowed. "We…we were taking care of a former loner. Her back was broken by a Twoleg vehicle. And she was pregnant."

River's expression soured with pain. Sympathy brimmed in her eyes.

"She…was not in a good headspace. She was afraid, and despairing. Warblerkit…he said that he'd fight off any monster that tried to bother her."

"No," River's fur bristled again.

"The storm hit. It hit hard. She was going into labor and…I couldn't find him. Redstar told me to take shelter, and she'd look for him. He was with Olive - the…the pregnant molly. They couldn't move him in that weather. We thought the…things wouldn't dare cross the camp in that weather, with the lightning and thunder. I was wrong. The last thing I saw was one of them wrapped around one of Olive's kits, and Warblerkit…"

"Barley."

"Warblerkit tried to save it."

That's all he could bear to muster. And from River's silence, that was all that was needed.

The two stood staring at each other in stunned, empty silence. The world around them continued, uncaring of their grief. Snowflakes started to fall from the sky and melt as they hit the ground. Barleywave felt the snow dapple his fur. He knew it would become a thin layer soon enough.

"...I'm sorry, River," he said. "It's all my fault. I never should have hurt you like this."

River sat back down and stared into space. She looked tired; exhausted and preparing to react a certain way - perhaps reciting a script in her head this entire time, and he just took that script and tossed it.

River shook her head. Quietly, she uttered. "Fuck." After a few more moments, she yowled, "FUCK!" She threw her head back and stared at the sky, laughing with exasperation. "Fucking god - damn it."

Barleywave had no idea what she just said - expletives he never heard before. Their tone got the point across.

River sighed heavily, still staring at the sky. "...How long ago did you stop tossing kits at the woods?" she asked.

Morbid. But not incorrect. Barleywave shook himself out a bit, removing the snowflakes from his pelt. "Let's see…uh…I guess we killed Lakestar last…stars, I guess mid-leafbare. So…"

"A year," River breathed. "You stopped being cultists a year ago."

"Cultists? Wait," Barleywave's hazel eyes widened. "That's how outsiders see ForestClan?"

"Well, yeah. You lived in…there," River gestured to the forest behind him. "...Word got around. Kits being thrown out of the camp at six moons old, left to fend for themselves overnight. Reports of angry screaming from some…crazy witch. Always making some...warning call or a threat. Sometimes it could be heard across the border. 'Go then, and feed the woods.'"

Barleywave's heart stopped and the hairs on his back rose.

Any uncomfortable emotion that rippled was chased by a massive shadow that breached the surface and swallowed him whole.

The suppressed memory played out in segmented images. A golden and brown cat, mouth open wide like a roaring lion. Green, poison-touched eyes. Screeching. Pointing at the gate. Towering over a cat that shrunk from her gaze. He couldn't remember the cat. They had a name. They had a color, a face, a shape. He couldn't piece it together. They had a name. He couldn't remember. He only saw the gold cat.

Cats recoiled with tails between their legs. They hid behind each other. Kits hid under their mothers. Adults avoided looking at the scene.

Another memory. The gold cat grabbed something in its jaws and threw it over the camp gates. He couldn't remember it. Didn't want to remember it. Only caterwauling and screeching remained etched. Complete silence when something knocked at the gate. Once. Twice. Three times. Repeatedly. More insistent. Violently demanding. The ground shook. His eyes burned. Something called for help. Over and over, the exact same way, until their voice gave out.

"Barleywave, are you still listening?"

He blinked. River had tilted her head at him.

He tore himself out of the belly of the memory and threw its remains in a pit. He felt disgusted. Wrong.

"...Barley?" River asked again. She sounded concerned.

He bottled everything up.

"...We're not about that." He said immediately. "We're just trying to live. Trying to keep the memory of people who were here before us alive. I understand how, uh," he swallowed. It was a name. It was just a name. "How Lakestar ruined all that, though." Barleywave looked at her sadly. "That's why you kept shutting down the idea of joining ForestClan, isn't it?"

"Yes. And now you've fucked up everything and made this so much more complicated," she hissed, her tail thrashing. She stopped, her eyes wavering with pain. "...I regret what I did last greenleaf. I left him in despair. Nothing mattered to me then. But as the moons past, I...I kept thinking about him. About what I did, leaving him to...to a cult, I thought."

Barleywave let out the start of a sympathetic purr, but stopped hesitantly. He didn't want to overstep. River continued. "...I came back, figuring that if Warblerkit was still alive, then I'd join ForestClan. Because screw it, I'm wandering around doing nothing with myself, so sure, let's join the stupid cult. If he wasn't alive, then I'd claw your eyes out, call you a stupid cult and that was that. But my kit's dead, and...not because of the stupid cult."

Barleywave let out a dry, humourless laugh. He saw the absurdity. "I mean, you can still do that."

"What, claw your eyes out?"

"If that'll make you feel better, sure. But I meant joining ForestClan. Not that I'd blame you for not wanting to," Barleywave added hastily when River gave him a weird look. Actually, that look was justified. What was he doing? "I mean, I'd get it. But I'm sure we'd be happy to have you. We have shelter, we keep ourselves warm and well fed. We're not free of danger - nowhere is. But you wouldn't have to keep wandering in harsh seasons. And we do have some methods to ward off the things in the forest."

River looked at him skeptically. Then, her eyes narrowed and her ears flattened. "Barleywave, I'm not becoming your mate."

"Wha - now, wait, hold on, where did I say I wanted a mate?" Barleywave was genuinely taken aback by this - what on earth gave her that idea?

River raised an eyebrow. "You're…not suggesting that?"

"No?" His face scrunched in confusion.

"What tom offers a molly shelter and safety from the weather and isn't trying to woo them?" she hissed, skeptical.

"First, keep your fur on, second, I'm not trying to woo you!" Barleywave retorted, his tail twitching. "I mean it! There's a small colony of us, our camp is surrounded by walls made of pine trees and sharp sticks. We look out for each other, kits and queens eat first, and we collectively hunt for food for a better chance at success. Like, yes, there's food and shelter, how else should I describe it?"

"You're seriously asking me to join ForestClan, no strings attached? I can just do that?"

"Yes? I mean, minus the fact that you're now a part of a cult in the woods, I guess," Barleywave joked.

River let out a huff. "Oh, yes. I guess now I'll have to add a suffix to my name too, enforced by your cult leader."

"Actually, that's not necessary. It's customary for kits and apprentices, but we don't really do that if an adult doesn't want to."

"...Really?"

"We have cats named Olive and Tree in our Clan. They're former outsiders who liked their names and wanted to keep them as they were." Barleywave shrugged.

"What if I…don't end up liking it there?" River's tail tapped on the ground. "Can I leave?"

"We'd be sad to see you go, but yeah, you can. Even if you were born to the clan, you can leave. Look, contrary to popular belief, ForestClan isn't a cult. Or…fine, maybe it was, under her. I don't know." Barleywave sighed. "But…ever since Lakestar died, we really are trying to be something else. Something better. Like…think of it like a warm shelter in the middle of a really bad winter. Others also sought shelter, and there's people still wanting to come in, or pass through. So, you help each other cause the world outside sucks, yannow? A…A gentler place. To help whoever needs it. Cause the woods suck, sure. But there's still good things out there, sometimes."

River stared out into the woods behind the dark tom. She flicked her tail pensively.

Barleywave saw her hesitation, and accepted that she might need time to choose. But, even then, he felt obligated to tell her one last thing. He hadn't had the courage to see it himself yet, even after all this time, but… "Can I at least bring you to his gravestone?"

River's tail froze mid-motion. Her voice was quiet. "...You make graves for them?"

"Yeah. Always."

River's gaze floated towards the side. She stared at the thin layers of snow that started to accumulate on the cold foliage around them.

"...Okay," she said quietly. "Take me there."

The tom made a small nod, then stood back up and turned to leave. When he turned to see River stepping over the border, she froze and stared around her for a bit.

"You alright?"

"River...snow."

Barleywave tilted his head at her.

"Riversnow. If you have to change my name."

"I already said we don't do that. Better question is, do you wanna do that?"

The cream and white she-cat paused. Her posture relaxed, as though she was enjoying the gentle snowflakes that graced the earth.

"I think I do." She glanced at the tom. "...Maybe. I'll keep you posted."

"Riversnow." He paused, then smiled, his whiskers twitching. "I like that one."

"It's not for you," she retorted.

"Nope, uh…nope. Totally your call."

"Absolutely," Riversnow declared, her chest puffed out. "Now, are you going to bring me to your cult or not?"

Barleywave laughed. But he obliged.

He was way overdue to be back from a simple border patrol anyway.

---

[NEW CLAN MATE ADDED] Riversnow, warrior, female, 58 moons. Adventurous)

<PREVIOUS | NEXT >

[redux-iterum]

Charred Legacy: Chapter Fifty-Four

(AO3 counterpart here.)

There was not much time to stew over Fireheart’s disturbing lack of care about his missing Clanmate. The next night came, and with it arrived Lizardtail and a small patrol, bursting into camp and panting.

“It’s on our border,” he said.

It was like a codeword etched into the brains of ThunderClan; Fireheart didn’t even have to signal for every warrior to follow him outside. The apprentices and kits watched them go, visibly both wishing to follow and very glad they didn’t have to. Dustpelt, having been ordered to stay behind just in case, spoke to them softly—some reassurance that everything would be fine, and they just needed to let the grown-ups handle things. Goldenflower’s fearful eyes stuck to Fireheart’s back, even after he left camp and was in the forest.

“Where’s Teaselfoot?” he asked Lizardtail.

“He was still on the neutral grounds’ border when we saw him,” Lizardtail said immediately. “The dog was near the road.”

“Then we need to get there quickly and alert the other Clans.” Fireheart turned to his Clanmates. “Willowpelt and Frostfur, get to Sunningrocks. RiverClan’s station is on the other side of it. The rest of you, come with me. Mousefur and Ravenwing will get WindClan, and Sandstorm and Lizardtail, can you two get to ShadowClan’s tunnel? They’re situated right at its mouth.”

The addressed cats nodded curtly or gave obedient meows. Not wanting to waste another heartbeat, Fireheart started off at a run, the rest behind him while Frostfur and Willowpelt split off and raced away for Sunningrocks.

“Don’t over-exert yourselves,” Fireheart said over his shoulder. “We need all the energy and speed we can get for this.”

“Hard to get tired when we’re following someone with such short legs,” Sandstorm said.

“Beat me by one heartbeat,” Greystripe muttered.

Fireheart didn’t respond to either of them. Almost before the last words left his friend’s mouth, his focus was back on the path ahead of him. He didn’t register the fresh scents around him, or the fern-shoots tentatively emerging from the earth and waving their barely-there fronds in support as the warriors of ThunderClan ran on to, for better or for worse, what was their only stand against the final beast that had destroyed so many of them.

This run seemed instantaneously over—Teaselfoot was visible on the edge of the forest in moments. Fireheart slowed down to a light canter, gentle enough to keep everyone’s steps silent without giving up too much speed. Even so, Teaselfoot must have scented them, because he turned around to face them with a high tail. Fireheart signaled with his own and came to a quick stop in front of him.

“The dog is on the road, near the Aulmir,” he said in a low voice, as if it could hear him from here. “It hasn’t gotten any closer, right?”

Teaselfoot’s back-fur bristled, but he shook his head more or less calmly. “I’ve only seen WindClan’s scout tonight—Darkfoot, I think his name was.”

“Where is he now?”

“Should be back on WindClan’s border. He just came to check on me when I first got here.”

Fireheart looked back and jerked his head towards the moorland. Mousefur and Ravenwing split off and ran past the toms, the dead grass of the neutral grounds kindly sheltering them from view pretty quickly. Sandstorm and Lizardtail likewise booked it, this time for the tunnel that was barely a pawpad wide from here, but Fireheart thought he could see a tiny figure sitting just outside of it.

“You remember the plan?” he asked Teaselfoot.

“Of course.”

“Do you also remember what Mousefur told you?”

“‘No having fun with it’, yes.” Teaselfoot sighed. “I don’t get to play ‘keep away’ with my life, I know.”

“Thank you,” Fireheart said. “Let’s wait until the other Clans are ready before we make another move. Everyone, stay as hidden as you can, and stay together.”

This period of waiting was and would remain the longest in Fireheart’s life by far. Every small noise made him jump and look around for the dog, and every flicker in the corner of his eye inspired a flinch in case the beast was just around the next tree. His Clanmates were silent except the occasional shift of fur when they shivered nervously or a light tamp on the soil when their paws shuffled. The moon, waning, hovered above them, tilted curiously at the little mortals below it. A croak from a crow sounded off; when Fireheart looked, a small flock of them had landed in a fresh tree’s healthy branches, cocking their heads with their dark eyes never leaving the patrol, as if they were curious about what was going to happen next.

If you’re Thlainra’s, you probably are, Fireheart thought. Please look out for us, just this once. We’ll need all the wit we can get here.

He fancied he saw the closest crow’s eyes twinkle, but none of them made a sound. He turned back to the neutral grounds, in time to see several clusters heading his way, including ThunderClan’s pairs.

“RiverClan said they’ll be good to go by the time we get to them,” Frostfur said as soon as she was close. “I guess there’re humans close by already.”

“I fear this is too many cats for this task,” Blackstar muttered when he and Rookstar’s party had reached ThunderClan’s. “We need distraction, not fighters.”

Rookstar tilted his head thoughtfully. “Worst comes to worst, we can stall for the humans to handle things by confusing this wretch on who to chase.” He spoke to Fireheart now. “You seen RiverClan?”

“My warriors have alerted them by now,” Fireheart said, straightening up.

“Good.” Rookstar looked at Blackstar. “Then ShadowClan should head over the bridge. Our lure will be ready close by. ThunderClan, you still want in?”

“Of course.”

“Stay behind the dog, in case it gets too close to our runners.” The senior leader’s eyes were unusually grim in their seriousness. “You don’t fight it unless you’ve got all of us with you.”

Fireheart lowered his chin. “That’ll be in the field. Should we get going?”

Rookstar grunted. At this, Blackstar ran off, his party in tow, and a couple cats from WindClan loped away, down towards the cluster of trees closest to the bridge.

“Pass-off for safety,” Rookstar explained to Fireheart. “Don’t need one cat getting tired.”

“Smart,” Fireheart said. To Teaselfoot, he added, “Are you ready?”

Teaselfoot blew out a breath, shook himself hard, and straightened up. “As I’ll ever be.”

“Stay in the grass and lead towards the bridge.” Rookstar flicked his tail, turned and raced off, his warriors following him. They were at the trees in what seemed to be moments.

Fireheart and his Clanmates backed up further into the forest, where the trees could somewhat hide them. Teaselfoot and Mousefur bumped heads before Teaselfoot started off at a trot, his tail puffed out.

“May all of the Three watch over us here,” someone whispered as Teaselfoot vanished from view around the corner.

A long stretch of silence, until a bark that sounded suspiciously like a meow flicked Fireheart’s ear. A bark that sounded much more like it should, deep and vicious, echoed, and rocks tumbled somewhere to the right. A moment later, Teaselfoot sprinted past the hiding spot, and behind him by a star-blessed significant distance came the massive brindled dog. It went right past the hiding cats, not even noticing them.

“Let’s go,” Fireheart whispered, and ran along the treeline, followed by his Clanmates.

They stayed on the border, weaving through the trees, all eyes on Teaselfoot and the dog. Once he got close enough to the cluster of trees, Fireheart led his Clan out past their border and after the dog, moving as silently as they could. Teaselfoot was still well ahead, and the dog seemed to have no idea it was being followed, just panting excitedly and thundering after the fastest cat in ThunderClan.

Abruptly, Teaselfoot leaped into the bushes under the trees, and a WindClan cat burst out of hiding, now sprinting across the bridge. The dog didn’t miss a beat, just changing targets without slowing down, even if its pants got heavier.

“You can stop here if you want,” Fireheart said to the rest. “Anyone who wants to keep on and help the other Clans, come with me.”

No one answered, but as they reached the bridge, he noticed that the sound of footfalls did not decrease at all. He couldn’t help a short beam of pride before leading everyone over the bridge—a curious, stiff feeling under his paws much like the wood of a fence—and into RiverClan territory.

The field-grass was much shorter than the neutral grounds’ or the moor’s; Fireheart could see why RiverClan would struggle sneaking up on land prey here. Flowers were already boasting buds and fresh leaves on their stems, and the grass was richly green, perfect for a mouse to chew without worrying about being spied on. One could see for a long distance, and beyond the end of the fields was a large house, the size of the Barn, as well as what looked to be a pathway.

Which had a couple of tall figures on it. Fireheart prayed they had a rronakrak.

Cats were spread out all over the flatland, some in groups and others braced for action on their lonesome. The leading WindClan cat was heading for the pathway with the tall figures, where what looked like a colorful bunch of RiverClan cats clustered together.

Unfortunately, at the sight of so many cats, the dog skidded to a halt, looking around wildly. Fireheart barely managed to stop before bumping into it and catching its attention. ThunderClan stopped behind him, some muttering concerns.

“OI!” a voice shouted; the WindClan cat had noticed they weren’t being followed and had turned around, facing the now distant dog.

The brindled beast didn’t mind it; its massive, wrinkled head twisted this way and that, starting for one cat, only for another to appear in its line of sight and distract it again.

“What do we do?” Willowpelt whispered.

“Spread out,” Fireheart said as soon as he thought of it. “Don’t give it a specific target to go after.”

ThunderClan obeyed, some of them running forward towards the other Clans and calling to the dog, Fireheart one of them. It looked back and forth, tail wagging eagerly and drool dripping off its mouth. It couldn’t decide what to do, where to go, and its paws kept carrying it only a few steps before it jumped at another cat, only to turn for someone else yelling at it.

Someone to Fireheart’s left whimpered. He looked back to see a dark grey ShadowClan cat shaking like a leaf as he stared in terror at the dog.

“Stay back,” Fireheart said. “Just don’t—”

The dog turned, its beady black eyes finding the warrior. The little tom trembled, but didn’t move as the dog started towards him.

Don’t you dare, Fireheart thought, even as he wanted nothing more than to flee. He gathered up his nerves, breathed in deep, and just as the dog was a couple body-lengths from the cat, bellowed, “NO!”

The dog’s head jerked up. Its stare zeroed in on him.

Fireheart turned and sprinted as fast as he could go, heading towards the humans even as fear made his vision foggy. Pounding footsteps warned him that the dog was close behind, and getting closer still. Voices shouted out, trying to redirect, but the footsteps didn’t stop or change direction. Fireheart’s feet were barely touching the ground, but he wasn’t as fast as his Clanmates, and a hot puff of air hit his back.

Paws slammed on his back legs. They buckled, sending him tumbling and rolling sideways with a yelp. Someone screamed as Fireheart ended up on his back, the behemoth beast above him. Reeking dog-breath fanned his face. He didn’t get a chance to move as two rows of teeth parted, dropped like a stone, and closed around his neck.

A boom, louder than anything Fireheart had ever heard in his life, shattered the air and echoed painfully through the field.

The teeth did not tighten their grip. Rather, they paused, loosened, and then fell away as the dog tilted to one side and collapsed with a thud.

Fireheart scrambled to his feet, almost hyperventilating, and stared at the dog. Its black eyes were empty, its mouth open and long, pink tongue flopped lifelessly out from between its teeth. A dark hole in its head trickled blood, just a little, and its sides were still. A gurgle came from deep within its throat, and then it was silent.

Fireheart looked behind himself to see a human, having stepped off the path, holding a long, silver stick that smoked at the end.

“Stars above,” was all he could say, and he turned towards the human as it approached.

The cats surrounding him skittered away, hissing and arching their backs as the human walked through them. Fireheart didn’t move, just tried to steady his breathing.

The human towered over him as it stopped, peering down at the dog. It gave a self-satisfied grunt before looking at Fireheart. He could hear someone hissing at him to “get away from it”, but… that didn’t feel right. Instead, he took a few steps forward and brushed his body against the humans’ leg with a purr:

Thank you.

The human didn’t bend down to pet him, but its voice came back soft and affectionate, just like his old human had spoken whenever he had done something they approved of. Fireheart looked up at it and blinked gratefully, just as an extra, before stepping away and walking slowly towards where most of his Clan had gathered together.

“Holy…” Greystripe stared at his approaching friend, jaw dropped and an absolutely terrified look on his face. “Fireheart, you could’ve…”

“And luckily I didn’t,” Fireheart said, trying to speak lightly and instead coming out with a voice shaking so hard he was surprised he himself didn’t fall over. “Is everyone else okay?”

“Y-yeah, we—” Ravenwing wobbled over to Fireheart and bumped his head on his shoulder, lingering there. “By the Three, Fireheart.”

“Don’t ever get that close to death again,” Teaselfoot said, just as shaken. “Please.”

Fireheart breathed in and out until his throat steadied before speaking. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect that to happen.”

He looked back; the human was peering down at the dog again, and slowly the other cats were gathering together and joining in a large group. Fireheart gestured with his tail and walked past the human, giving it a wide berth. He had no idea if he would be able to stay standing out of nerves if he went any faster.

“Blessings on every single soul in the sky and on the earth,” Blackstar said once ThunderClan reached them. “Well done, everyone. Fireheart, you live?”

“I live,” he said, trying to sound humorous and failing miserably. “That’s the end of it, then. Isn’t it?”

“It is,” Rookstar said quietly.

Crookedstar puffed out air. “Thank the stars! And not a soul lost tonight. The Three are looking out for us.”

Cats turned to each other and swapped words of joy and relief. Fireheart stayed silent until his insides had relaxed. He still felt dog-teeth on his throat.

“Let’s get home, everyone,” Crookedstar said to the collected cats. “This calls for many nights of relaxation. Our Clanmates will be thrilled that our only risks are each other and badgers now.”

“I agree,” Blackstar said. He bowed his head to the other leaders. “By all that is good, we’re free.”

Fireheart copied the gesture. “Thank you all for doing this, and letting us help.”

“We would have regretted it a split whisker later, if that dog didn’t die.” Crookedstar gave Fireheart a friendly pat. “But luckily we didn’t have to. Just that you touched a human, but I suppose that can’t be helped.”

Fireheart weakly snorted. “The least I could do was show my appreciation for being saved.”

“Fair enough.”

With a few more words of gratitude and farewells, the Clans split apart, RiverClan heading towards a patch of trees by the house and the other Clans walking somewhat far apart from each other and chatting amongst themselves as they went.

ThunderClan alone was silent. Fireheart could guess they were feeling exactly how he felt right now.

I will never get that lucky in my life, ever again.

Then, as if to forcibly lighten the mood…

I guess I can’t put off my ceremony any longer, can I?

[rippleclan]

RippleClan: Moon 98

Even though all Midnightpaw wants to do is sleep, Anchovystrike encourages Midnightpaw to hunt at night. Unfortunately, Anchovystrike encourages Midnightpaw to catch what turns out to be a porcupine, which badly slashes Midnightpaw's left eye.

[Image ID: Anchovystrike and Midnightpaw stalk a bush of red berries, but the back half of a porcupine sticks out of it. Under Midnightpaw, it reads + CONDITION: DAMAGED EYES.]

(Anchovystrike: 33, male, warrior, playful, unshakable StarClan link)

(Midnightpaw: 7, male, warrior apprentice, oblivious, always wandering)

On his first proper day out of the nursery, Beekit bruises himself by hitting the rocks bordering camp. He still has fun, though.

[Image ID: Beekit, who looks just like his dad, trots back to Patchkit and Morningkit, who have grown into full kit sprites and have blue and yellow-green eyes, respectively. Morningkit cheers, "Do it again!" Under Beekit, it reads + NEW SKILL: QUICK TO HELP, + CONDITION: BRUISES. Under Patchkit, it reads + NEW SKILL: INTERESTED IN CLAN HISTORY. Under Morningkit, it reads + NEW SKILL: EYE FOR DETAILS. Billowhaze and Stormjump watch them from the back, with Billowhaze saying, "Your son has a skull made of rock."]

(Beekit: 1, male, kit, noisy, quick to help)

(Patchkit: 1, male, kit, charming, interested in Clan history)

(Morningkit: 1, male kit, bossy, eye for details)

(Billowhaze: 33, male, historian, loyal, good kitsitter)

(Stormjump: 29, female, caretaker, charismatic, incredible cook)

While patrolling the horse path, Oilstar and Carnationspeckle see humans throw a sack out of a monster.

[Image ID: Oilstar and Carnationspeckle approach a long-furred lilac cat wit heather blue eyes and a white spot on their chest and tail. The cat stands at the side of a road. They yowl, "Don't expt me to—*cough*—crawl back home to you!" Under them, it reads NEW PLAYER: INDIGO, 38, HALF TOM (HE/THEY), PLAYFUL, INCREDIBLE RUNNER, GREAT TEACHER, + CONDITION: YELLOWCOUGH.]

---

Harvest Moon always left the five Clans exhausted. Whether that exhaustion stemmed from celebrating from sunrise to the depths of the night, or from warding off the Spirits of Shadow that breached the living world, Harvest Moon sent every cat, young and old, back to their dens asleep on their paws. No one ever wanted to take the first patrol after Harvest Moon. Yet, because of this, it made the perfect opportunity for Oilstar to take her mate on a romantic outing.

Technically, Oilstar and Carnationspeckle were marking the southern border, but the truth of the patrol was obvious to even the youngest kit. In full honesty, they barely made it to the southern reaches of the territory before they both found a quiet spot to enjoy one another.

The two mates curled among the early autumn leaves, bathed in a warm morning glow. The sparce trees of the southern territory stood around them like silent guards, protecting their love. Oilstar dug her face into Carnationspeckle's chest. Carnationspeckle laughed at her mate's sweet touch. She shifted and licked Oilstar's belly. Oilstar wrapped herself further around Carnationspeckle.

"It's been too long since we did this," Oilstar purred, speaking into the soft fluff of Carnationspeckle's flank.

"You're in the leader's den now," Carnationspeckle pointed out. She rested her chin on Oilstar's soft belly. "We can have privacy whenever we want."

"And have our kits and grandkits tease us the whole time?" Oilstar laughed. "No, no. I like finding quiet spots with you. I like stepping away from the Clan for a while. Even StarClan gives us privacy here." Oilstar nuzzled hard under Carnationspeckle's chin, earning another deep laugh.

"Well, if that's how it is," Carnationspeckle hummed. She untangled herself from Oilstar and gazed southward. The pair could see the horse path from where they laid, outlined by the deep marks of the monsters that harrassed horses onwards. "Hmm… no strangers in sight. I think that's a successful patrol."

"You know, we still have to mark it," Oilstar cooed as Carnationspeckle relaxed beside her once more.

"I know," Carnationspeckle whined playfully. "But surely that gives us more private time, doesn't it?"

"Maybe I should have made you deputy," Oilstar hummed. She licked her mate's ear.

"Not the place for me," Carnationspeckle said. She tucked herself further against Oilstar's belly. "This is."

Oilstar rested her chin on Carnationspeckle. She gazed out at the human barns far beyond the territory. Their autumn crops swayed in a gentle breeze. Oilstar wondered if this was what life in StarClan was like; curled up beside those you love, taking in all the beauty the world can offer. If it was, Oilstar would be happy to die some day.

A monster trotted down the horse path from the west. The horse attached to the strange contraption batted at flies with its tail in a shockingly undisturbed manner. Oilstar would have to ask Venturedapple or some other former kittypet what it was like to sit on top of one of those monsters, with its impossibly warped wood and the humans guiding it along. Had any of them been in the den-like monsters with sturdy woven walls?

Oilstar expected the monster and its horse to pass them by, following the horse path as it curved southward down the coast toward places unknown. Yet, to Oilstar's surprise, the monster slowed. The human guiding the monster onward pulled at the ropes holding the horse in place, forcing it to a stop. The human's gangly paw grabbed a leather sack sitting at their side. Something inside the sack squirmed and smacked against the sides, fighting for dear life. The muffled shriek of a cat pulled Carnationspeckle out from under her mate. Both mollies watched as the human threw the sack just off the horse path. The form inside seized and scrambled for the sack's wide mouth.

"There's a cat in there!" Carnationspeckle gasped as the human on the monster grabbed their horse's ropes once more. They flicked the ropes, making the horse cry out. The trapped beast continued its former trot along the path, unaffected by the screeching cat on the path's side.

"Let's hurry," Oilstar huffed, running down the hillside. Carnationspeckle ran alongside her.

As the monster crawled away, a lilac paw plunged out of the leather sack's opening. A wild furred face pulled itself into the sunlight. It was a long-furred lilac tom with a dark leather collar firmly tied around his neck. His blue eyes were watery and his nose was smeared with mucus.

"Cowards!" the tom yowled at the retreating monster. "Don't expect me to—" the tom coughed violently, seizing forward with the intensity of it all. Carnationspeckle flinched back as she and Oilstar got close to the path. The tom choked out through his coughing fit, "—crawl back to you!"

"Oilstar, be careful," Carnationspeckle whispered. "We don't know what he has."

"I have lives to spare," Oilstar assured her mate. As the RippleClan cats drew closer, the kittypet's fury turned toward the collar around his neck. He flung his paws underneath the collar and fell on his side. He pulled at the well-tanned material, getting strands of his own fur caught in his claws. The collar pressed against his throat.

"Stop, stop!" Carnationspeckle yowled. "You'll choke yourself!" The tom pulled his paws back out and gasped for air. Another coughing fit raked his body. He coughed so hard that he threw up on the edge of the path. Oilstar and Carnationspeckle stopped a few tail-lengths away until the tom finally regained his breath.

"You…" the tom gulped, "you might not want to get close. Yellowcough."

"Who are you?" Oilstar asked, putting on her newly discovered leader's voice.

"They named me Indigo," said the kittypet. "I doubt I'll keep that name considering they threw me away!" Indigo hissed at what little could still be seen of the monster, only to cough again.

"Your humans abandon you just because you're sick?" Carnationspeckle gasped.

"A lot of cats are sick right now," Indigo groaned. "I guess they didn't want to catch what I have."

"I'm Oilstar, leader of RippleClan," Oilstar said. "This is my mate, Carnationspeckle. We have clerics who can treat yellowcough. We can offer you food and shelter while you recover."

"RippleClan," Indigo chuckled. He rubbed his soiled face on the grass. "The Witch Hunters told me about you. Some trade agreement, right?"

"Are you a Witch Hunter?" Carnationspeckle gulped. Oilstar could feel Carnationspeckle's hackles rise at the thought of her former kidnappers.

"Just a cat who lived under their rule," Indigo assured her. "They asked me to give them a blanket from my human's house to trade with you once. They could get some tools from you, I think. Hope you put it to good use." A blanket? Oilstar tried to remember some of the strange kittypet words she'd learned in her interactions with the Witch Hunters.

"The human long pelt," Oilstar realized. "Was it the one with the blue and tan stripes? Yes, we still have that! We actually use it to line the floor of our elder's den. Our elders love it. Thank you, Indigo." Oilstar's thanks were interuppted by another coughing fit. "Carnationspeckle, can you hurry back to camp? See if Honeybuzz or Gingerpaw can prepare a nest in the quarantine den for Indigo here. We'll see you there."

"Don't get sick," Carnationspeckle ordered Oilstar, touching noses with her. Carnationspeckle's tail brushed against Oilstar as she stepped away. She ran across the rolling land with the speed of a cat far younger and all the beauty Oilstar adored.

"I won't say no to help," Indigo groaned, stumbling toward Oilstar.

"Lean on me if you need to," Oilstar said. She walked slow beside Indigo, eyeing his bile-stained mouth. This certainly wasn't how she expected to spend a day out with her mate, but she supposed the duties of a leader were never done.

The walk back to camp was ridiculously slow, as Indigo had to stop and cough more than a few times. Oilstar worried he'd collapse before they got to the shipwreck, but luckily the camp came into view soon enough. Indigo stared at the mighty shipwreck, just as so many loners and kittypets before him did when they first graced the camp.

"I've met shipcats before," Indigo muttered, "but I've never been so close to a real ship."

"We had a shipcat living with us for a while," Oilstar hummed. "His name was Washington. He taught us a lot about what this ship might have been like when it sailed the sea." There was a sparkle in Indigo's eyes that fought through his exhaustion. Oilstar's whiskers twitched in mirth as she led the way into camp.

Most of the Clan was still in camp, recovering from the previous night's grand celebration. Yet their attention was still on the entrance, waiting for the newcomer Carnationspeckle had warned them about. Indigo's head bounced from den to den. Strength filled his paws. Yet sadly, Oilstar could not show the kittypet around quite yet. Instead, they looped past the medicine den, toward the dirt place, and into the quarantine den. Inside, Carnationspeckle and Troutpool were fixing a nest. Troutpool's ears perked as her other mother arrived.

"You must be the tomcat my mother told me about," Troutpool purred. "Here, why don't you rest?"

"You're half right," Indigo groaned, eagerly crawling into the mossy nest. "I'm more of a half tom. You know, he and they?"

"We'll remember that," Oilstar said. "Troutpool here is our senior cleric. She and the other clerics will do their best to treat your yellowcough. That way, once you've recovered, you can decide where you go from here. I know you don't want to find your humans."

"What I really want is to get this collar off," Indigo whined, pawing at their neck.

"There's a way to remove it without destroying it, if you want," Carnationspeckle pointed out.

"I want it cut into tiny pieces so I can dance on them," Indigo huffed. "I'm never wearing a collar again."

"I can't stand the feeling of leather." Oilstar almost jumped at Scaleripple's voice. The fluffy cream-colored tom stood silently behind her, watching Indigo.

"Scaleripple, you can meet Indigo in due time," Oilstar sighed. "They're sick and exhausted. Let them rest."

"How can I rest in a place like this?" Indigo groaned, waving at the wooden walls. "This camp is like nothing I've ever seen! And it's all been built by cats! Well, not the ship, but… you know what I mean. I want to know everything about RippleClan."

"I can teach you," Scaleripple said. He walked past Oilstar, either purposefully or forgetfully ignoring her instructions. "I'm a teacher. It's my job."

"That's not a bad idea," Troutpool said. "If we're going to take care of Indigo, he should know a bit about us."

"If they feel strong enough…" Oilstar muttered.

"What's a teacher?" Indigo barely finished their question before another awful coughing fit overtook their lungs. Yellow phelgm stained the leather floor.

"That's definetely yellowcough," Troutpool muttered. "I'm going to get you some mullein immediately, but it will take a bit of time to prepare more medicine for you."

"Scaleripple can keep me company," Indigo coughed. "You don't seem too scared of yellowcough, after all. So, what's a teacher?" Scaleripple sat beside Indigo while Troutpool slipped off to prepare her medicine.

"We teach the Clan how to do things," Scaleripple explained. "We help apprentices with their training and teach warriors new skills. We teach cats about RippleClan. We teach artisans how to hunt and codekeepers how to tan leather. If you want to learn, you can speak with a teacher."

"I want to do that," Indigo gasped, eyes sparkling.

"You do?" Oilstar said. "We don't want to force you into our Clan, Indigo."

"You're not forcing me," Indigo huffed. "My humans threw me out and my friends gave me yellowcough. You actually want to help. Why wouldn't I want to learn about you?"

"If you want to join RippleClan," Carnationspeckle laughed, "we can tell you about the other jobs we have. I'm a caretaker, for example."

"I'm good," Indigo chuckled, coughing through his humor. "Save my life, and I'll be the best teacher you've ever seen."

"We've only had four," Scaleripple said in monotone.

"I like you!" Indigo laughed, batting Scaleripple's shoulder. The cream-colored tom tensed, but did not run away.

Well then. It seemed Harvest Moon had one last surprise for RippleClan.

(Oilstar: 102, female, leader, charismatic, ghost speaker)

(Carnationspeckle: 100, female, caretaker, compassionate, fish-like swimmer)

(Indigo: 38, half tom (he/they), teacher, playful, incredible runner, great teacher)

(Troutpool: 59, female, cleric, insecure, ghost sight)

(Scaleripple: 51, male, teacher, lonesome, unusually strong fighter)

[wc-confessions]

I truly believe that Mapleshade's revenge against Oakstar for exiling and indirectly killing her kits absolutely did NOT stop at her killing of Frecklewish. She must have placed a curse of some kind on his ENTIRE BLOODLINE. Think about how much the characters descended from him have been through.

Pinestar got horrible visions from StarClan about Tigerkit and ended up abandoning him to become a kittypet, which tarnished his reputation.

There's...everything Tigerstar did. Nightkit and Mistkit died very young.

Brambleclaw never truly escaped his father's shadow and would be looked at differently all his life, just to get possessed by Ashfur and get severe PTSD that would cause him to step down as leader. Tawnypelt defected to ShadowClan just to be the only one who supported Rowanclaw during a dark time and lose two of her children. Mothwing would be ostracized for not believing in StarClan and have to deal with her apprentice's death, plus Mistystar unfairly exiling her PLUS Splashtail's plot. Tadpole died young. Hawkfrost would follow the same path as his father.

Dandelionkit and Juniperkit died young. Sparkpelt lost her mate, one of her kits, and suffered from severe depression afterwards, along with dealing with Ashfur's takeover of the clan, getting a dog sicced on her and almost dying, being temporarily exiled, and having a strained relationship with Nightheart for a while. Alderheart got the medicine cat role forced upon him when he didn't want it, and he was forced to watch what were basically his two adoptive little sisters get separated from each other forever, plus also dealing with Ashfur's leadership.

Finchlight and Nightheart GREW UP under Ashfur's leadership.

Tigerheart would get the same looks for being a Tigerclone, have the love of his life break up with him, (even if it was only briefly) he'd abandon his clan during a dark time for them, gets killed after being dropped by an owl (though he gets better), and has to watch his son get ostracized by,,,everyone and is unable to do anything about it. Dawnpelt has to deal with a severe mental episode after the sudden loss of her brother and unfairly accuses a medicine cat of murder at a gathering, has to stay behind in a failing clan with her children because they all refused to leave, only to watch her daughter become a monster and gets killed by Darktail when she tries to escape. Flametail died young JUST after becoming a medicine cat and almost gets killed in the Dark Forest.

Poucestep, as a small kit, gets stuck on a drawbridge and almost dies, being saved by Spiresight who sacrifices himself in the process, surely giving her at least some degree of survivor's guilt. There's everything Shadowsight went through at the claws of Ashfur and others only to end up never having the power to speak to StarClan. Ever. Lightleap felt extreme guilt over being too nervous to go to the Dark Forest, so she tries to make up for it by unintentionally putting herself and others in danger, as well as trying to save her younger brother's life, only for him to die anyway. Birchpaw had to become an apprentice alone because Rowankit died what could have been a preventable death.

Juniperclaw's actions led to him getting disowned by his entire family, and he sacrifices himself for Shadowkit's life, only to end up in the Dark Forest anyway, and when he redeems himself a second time, StarClan still rejects him, this time right to his face, so he'll never be able to see his deceased family. Strikestone got his ear mangled badly enough that he became half-deaf, and shortly after he ends up getting killed, his ghost stuck in limbo for a long time, mind-controlled by Ashfur while being aware of what's going on but unable to control his body, and only gets to rest after Ashfur's defeated. And finally, Sleekwhisker ends up turning her back on the clans, killing her best friend with no remorse, tried to kill two innocent children, and permanently driven out of the clans with nothing known of her whereabouts.

I rest my case.

.

[cupidsdescendant]

Hii!! I saw your requests were open. May I request the mercs with a teen reader who was hired as a mercenary who ends up getting hurt in battle? Please and thank you!

Hurt! Teen Reader X Mercs (Platonic)

hi anon! Sure I'd love to ^w^ i think that's incredibly adorable. I decided to make it a platonic situation for obvious reasons but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Scout:

-acts like a big brother, because you're still a teenager he has that kind of cool kid energy that radiates off him whenever you fight in battle together -always picks you back up, physically and mentally. He loves it because it feels like one of those motivational sports movies (specifically the training montages) -"C'mon Y/N we still got a minute on da clock!" He says as he reaches over to give you a hand. He always helps supports you when you have a limp leg also.

-if you're healing yourself or Medic is trying to patch you up he's always on the lookout and makes sure no one is in the way to interrupt

-Despite him hogging all the health kits he'll share them with you :)

-Giving shitty motivational speeches while you're bleeding on the floor he thinks those would work -"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up, Y/N..." he says staring into the sunset, holding his hand to his chest

Soldier:

-kind of like Scout but acts more like a general to an apprentice

-also gives motivational speeches but his are a little more violent... -"You think that's a loss? I've CRAPPED bigger losses than THAT!!!!!!" (BTW IF YOU KNOW WHICH SFM THAT QUOTE IS I LOVE YOU)

-“cmon we don’t got all day comrade! we must stay focused, we must stay together!” He says as he grabs you, running around the map

-“don’t let a scratch stop ya, Y/N” (your bones are literally sticking out)

-he stops whatever he's doing to patch you up

Sniper

-Snipes is the type of guy to only look out for himself. He's not willing to be helpful in the public eye.

-key word, public eye.

-He knows your hiding spots, so incase of emergencies he'll leave you a health kit.

-You never see him during battle, but after the match he'll pat you on the back for your fighting skills.

-"Good job out there."

"Nice shot on that field." He scatters compliments throughout your battles

-If you did happen to find him he'll wave at you from afar with a soft smile.

-Always looking out for you by sniping anyone near you

-Keeps you safe when you're injured <3

Heavy

-Heavy loses it when you're hurt in battle.

-In fact, he'll take you immediately out of the match and rest you somewhere safe.

-"you vill be okay, leetle one." He says with confidence. There's no way to argue with the man, you're just gonna have to deal with his helicopter mom tendencies.

-Hunts down whoever hurt you and continuously kills them

-"Are eyour hungry?" Two sandviches in his hands and a bright smile on his face. "you must eat up!"

-Screams at Medic to hurry up and help you

Medic

-He's used to injuries and deaths, so he can't help but feel default when you're injured.

-But he loves you, he's concerned about their health, them being his apprentice after all. So he has a little more sympathy than others

-Yes, he has a heart, but its not a very big one...he's dedicated more to figuring out what went wrong instead of your safety.

-"Ja, Y/N. Again!? Jou must be more careful- ooh hoo! your femur is sticking out!" cackling to himself as he takes out his saw.

-Pokes at your joints and bones, kinda plays around while you're in pain lol

-But once he patches you up fully, he'll pat you on your back. "Vell at least we know you're fighting-ha ha!" He'll hand you a medikit and let you be on your way.

-If he hears his named yelled by you he runs immediately!

Demoman

-"What did yer do to yerself this time?!" He spurs out.

-He always finds you with bruises and cuts, even broken bones. It freaks Demo out and he's not the type to sit down and help

-But he will run you over to Medic, carrying you in the bridal position and make sure you don't get hurt.

-"Yer really did it this time, Y/N. I beta not see you busted up again!"

-He lets you take swigs from his alcohol, though. "Thise'll help with tha pain."

-He's always on guard while Medic patches you up and looks out.

-"Yer good? GOOD!" A loud roar comes out of him and he grabs you, jumping back into the action.

Engineer

-Always helpful and worried for your safety ;w;

-When you ask for help he's always the first one to show up and support you

-"Now you stay still, Y/N. I can't have it get infected..." while Medic is busy he plays doctor with you, bandaging and cleaning your wounds.

-He sets up turrets that shoot anyone near you.

-After the battles he'll spend time taking care of you at the base

-"I made ya somethang..." His hands hold a tiny teacup with small tea biscuits on the corner. The rest of the night you both laugh and play games

-Engi is always there no matter what, and he insists on staying with you until you reach full recovery.

-Gives you additional advice on how to dodge bullets and weapons and trains you for the next few days.

Spy

-He thinks you're stupid for getting hurt lol.

-"Must you slow me down?!" He yells in a fit of rage, his face ircked. He stops being invisible and carries you over to Medic.

-He's not very helpful in battle, but after he'll talk to you more about training and practice.

-Thinks he's smug when he leaves a "How to Fight" book on your bed. "I thought ze'd like it!"

-"Now I know zou have a bigger brain than your competition, so don't let me down."

-He'll go invisible and watch you closely, making sure that you really are putting practice to the test.

-Even when you get hurt, he'll watch until you get up. If you don't, he'll sigh, reveal himself and rinse and repeat.

-He's still proud of you nonetheless :3

Pyro

-A real helpful pal! He kills everyone in site if they touch you :D

-Pyro is protective as well, but he's unhinged. Instead of killing, he'll brutally dismember his enemies and leave them half alive.

-He's always there for you no matter what!!!

-You both are a tag team, and if one person gets hurt, the other helps out.

-"mrrph murh murrp uhr!!!" (Thanks for the help, Y/N!!!"

-When you're hurt in battle, he comes and does his own DIY surgery with bandaids, sewing needles, and other miscellaneous items in his pockets

-you run to medic immediately to use real surgery tools because there's an 95% what Pyro used will infect and kill you

-Even though his help is...limited...he's gonna help despite it!

wow. i'm kinda stunned lol. this has been in my drafts for officially 2 years ;____; I'm glad I finished it, though. I hope you all love it. Sorry anon for legit being late!!! kissies and love xoxo

[clangenrising]

Month 19 - September Gathering

Prev | First | Next

Leaffall was off to a staggering start. Oddstripe had been enjoying the chilly air and the changing leaves only for the heat to come back in full force without warning. He’d been urging everyone to remember to get out of the sun and drink water in addition to eating fresh-kill for the last few days. Unfortunately, Sagetooth had come down with heat stroke while looking for fennel and even Lakepaw had exhausted herself with battle training out in the sun. 

Oddstripe applied moss to both of their foreheads as they rested in the healers’ den, saying, “Just relax and take care of yourselves. This should pass. If you need any water just call for someone and they’ll bring you some okay?” 

“You’re sure I can’t go to the gathering?” Lakepaw pouted.

“I’m sorry, dear,” he shook his head, “it’s bad timing but you have to stay and rest. There will be another gathering next moon.” 

Sagetooth, laying on her side with her eyes shut tight, asked, “Will you be alright on your own, Oddstripe?” 

“Oh, yes,” he smiled and ran a few licks over her fur. “I’m sure I can manage. It’s not like I’m doing anything anyway, I’m just going to go sit below the Cornerstones and be quiet.”

“Hmf,” Sagetooth muttered something to herself but didn’t seem to have the energy to give any further commands. Oddstripe sighed in relief. 

“Hey, dad,” Sparrowsway ducked his head into the den, “you ready to go?” 

“Yep,” smiled Oddstripe. “I was just finishing up. You two get your rest, I’ll be back later tonight.” 

“Okay…” Lakepaw stared wistfully out at the night but kept her head on her paws. Oddstripe touched his nose to Lakepaw’s ear and padded out after his son. The Gathering party was congregating on the hill as the last stragglers made their way to the group. 

Russetfrond was untangling himself from his two eager kittens. Bluekit and Yellowkit clung to his legs begging in chorus to be allowed to go with him. Oddstripe winced as he watched the patience draining from Russetfrond’s face bit by bit. 

“I already said no,” he growled firmly, wiggling his paws out of their grasp. 

Bluekit whined and plopped down on his belly looking dejected but Yellowkit leapt for his father’s paw again, giggling, and cried, “Come onnnnn! I’ll be good, I promise!” 

“Enough!” Russetfrond snapped, nipping sharply at the kit who squealed and dropped into a crouch with his ears pressed back. Russetfrond picked him up by the scruff -- which was quite the feat given how much he had grown in his four moons -- and set him beside Bluekit, saying, “You can’t even be good right now! You’d both better learn to behave before you become apprentices or you’ll be stuck on tick duty for every Gathering.” 

“Sorry, father,” Bluekit said, sitting up straight and tucking his paws close to his body. 

“Sorry,” mumbled Yellowkit, looking at the ground. 

“Speak up,” Russetfrond ordered and Yellowkit straightened up. 

“Sorry, father,” he echoed. 

“That’s better,” huffed Russetfrond. “Now behave while I’m gone and maybe I’ll catch you a special treat, alright?” Both boys nodded and Russetfrond leaned in to plant a tender lick on both of their heads. “Thank you, boys. I love you.” 

“Love you,” the kits chorused. 

“I do not envy those kits,” Aldertail whispered to Oddstripe, having come up beside him at some point. 

Oddstripe tried to push the grimace from his face and said, “No, me neither. Poor things.” 

“He means well,” Sparrowsway said with a small grimace of his own. 

“I know,” Oddstripe purred, butting up against Sparrowsway’s shoulder. Then, glancing at Aldertail, he asked, “are you sure you don’t want to come tonight?” 

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I don’t like crowds very much.” 

“Okay,” he smiled and bumped his head lightly against hers. “Enjoy your night, I’ll see you after the Gathering.” 

“‘Kay,” she blushed, shuffling her paws. “Have fun.” 

“Will do,” laughed Oddstripe and he twined his tail with Sparrowsway’s as they went to join the others. 

“Okay,” Goldenstar was saying, craning her neck to look over the crowd, “Russetfrond, Floodstrike, Scorchplume, Fogpaw, Branchbark… Ah! Oddstripe and Sparrowsay, that’s everyone. Let’s go.” 

“Have fun!” Slatepaw called after them. 

“You too!” cried Fogpaw, rearing up on her hind paws to wave goodbye. 

They made their way through the fields and over the river to the Cornerstones in the heavy evening heat. Even without the sun, the air was unseasonably warm and slightly humid, clinging to their fur like it wanted to slow them down. When they arrived, Oddstripe paused to take in the scene, enjoying the lively thrum of conversation. It seemed they were the last to arrive, all three of the other leaders sitting atop the Cornerstones already.

 “Floodstrike!” a pair of young EarthClan warriors called out and Floodstrike split off of the group to join them. Scorchplume and Fogpaw skirted the group to find a good vantage point to sit together. Branchbark waved his tail at a pair of SkyClan warriors and moved to join them.

“Aww, no Ospreymask?” one of them asked.

“Not tonight,” he said, “you’ll have to settle for me.” 

“I don’t think Pebblefall likes you like that,” laughed the other and the first warrior shoved him hard. 

“Whatever, bee brain.” 

Oddstripe chuckled to himself and turned to Sparrowsway who was standing next to him. “Go on and mingle, sweetheart.” 

“I’m alright,” said Sparrowsway, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Why don’t I walk you to the front?”

“If you really want to,” Oddstripe said, brow furrowing with worry, “but don’t you have friends you’d rather talk to than your old man?” 

“Nah,” Sparrowsway shrugged and smiled but Oddstripe wasn’t sure he believed the expression. “I always enjoy talking with you.” 

“That’s not what I mean,” Oddstripe said as he let Sparrowsway escort him through the crowd. “You need friends who aren’t your father. It’s good for you.” 

“I’m alright,” Sparrowsway said again. “Most the cats my age are closer with Floodstrike anyway.” 

“What about Dawnbird?” Oddstripe offered. “She seems like such a polite young lady, I’m sure you’d get along well.” 

Sparrowsway pursed his lips to hide a wince. “Maybe. Seriously though, dad, I’m fine.” 

“Oh, alright,” Oddstripe chewed his lip fretfully and stopped to give Sparrowsway’s cowlick a few firm licks. “I just worry about you.”

“Don’t,” Sparrowsway laughed and ducked away from the licks. “I’m happy, dad, I really am.” 

“Okay…” Oddstripe stepped back towards the Cornerstones. “Just don’t hold yourself back from having fun, okay?”

“Okay, I won’t,” said Sparrowsway.

Deciding he would just have to be satisfied with that answer, Oddstripe turned away and padded over to where Blazingbrush and Stormwhisper were sitting near the front of the crowd. Stormwhisper brightened and twitched an ear in greeting as he approached. 

“Oh, where’s Tangletooth?” Oddstripe asked, looking around. 

“Coyotechaser said he stayed home tonight,” said Blazingbrush. “They didn’t want to risk him overexerting himself in the heat.” 

“I can’t blame them,” said Oddstripe. “Sagetooth is home with heat stroke tonight.” 

Stormwhisper inhaled worriedly through his teeth. “Stars, I hope she’s alright.” 

“She just needs some rest,” Oddstripe reassured him, “don’t worry.” Stormwhisper nodded, looking at his paws.

“Well, we might as well enjoy their absence for the night,” Blazingbrush grinned. “I mean how often do the three of us get to hang out, just us?” 

“Not often,” Stormwhisper admitted. 

Oddstripe laughed. “Why not? Let’s make the most of it.” Looking at Stormwhisper, he asked, “How are the kittens doing, by the way? They’re apprentices now aren’t they?” 

“Yeah,” nodded Stormwhisper, “Two moons in already.” 

“Oh, that’s right!” Oddstripe smiled remembering the Gathering where that had been announced, “Bluffpaw is apprenticed to Orangestar, isn’t he.” 

“That’s right,” Stormwhisper said. His expression softened as he continued, “Finchpaw and Rainpaw have been coming by lately to ask me about StarClan. I’m so glad they take the time. I miss the little beasts, even though I’m not their father or anything.” He looked at his paws again and Oddstripe couldn’t help but smile. Stars, he was terrible at hiding things. It was adorable.

“I know what you mean,” he said. “My kits grew up so fast! One day I was their whole world and then the next they were running off in all different directions -- into fights! Oh, it was terrifying -- is terrifying! But I just have to trust that StarClan is watching over them, you know?”

“Mhm,” Blazingbrush nodded. “I get so worried every time one of the apprentices comes back with even a bruise on them! There’s a reason I chose healing over battle practice.” She chuckled a bit and looked out over the crowd as if she were searching for someone and Oddstripe suddenly wondered if she had more in common with him and Stormwhisper than he had previously imagined. 

“Alright!” Snowstar’s voice pierced the air and silenced the chatter of the crowd. “I think it’s about time we get started, yes?” Oddstripe shifted his posture to look up at her, putting that line of thinking away for now.

“I’ll start the meeting off by saying that greenleaf has been good to SkyClan. Prey is running well, even as we head into leaffall the Clan is well fed. We’ve accepted some new blood into our Clan, two cats from over the mountains who have taken the names Rockylake and Hobbleheart. They’re here with us tonight and we welcome them as new members of SkyClan.” 

She gestured with her nose to a pair of cats sitting with Charredbranch and Greyvoice, a solid brown she-cat and a solid black tom. Oddtripe smiled in their direction, wondering which one was which. The crowd cheered weakly for them before quieting down again.

“Thankfully,” Snowstar said, “SkyClan has no further business. Orangestar?” 

“Thank you,” Orangestar smiled, stepping forward. “I am disappointed to say that the rogues from the city have started hunting in our forest again. Only one hunting party has been caught but at least two more have left clear signs of their trespassing on our land. That, in conjunction with the warning I’m sure we all received from RisingClan earlier this moon,” here she paused to glance at the other leaders, all of whom nodded, “I think the possibility of a continued war is not unlikely.” 

“I agree,” Goldenstar said, taking a small step forward. “It’s only a matter of time before the city cats start another fight. It would be in all of our best interests to have a plan in place for when they do.”

“What I’m hearing,” Flightstar interrupted, “is that you both don’t know how to defend your own territories against a group of kittypets.”

“These kittypets are trained fighters,” Goldenstar scowled. “You were at both of the battles we’ve had with them, you must have recognized that they’re no small threat.” 

“They have numbers,” he said dismissively, “nothing more.”

“You’re joking,” Orangestar blurted in disbelief.

“Underestimating these rogues is not helpful,” Snowstar added. “They took Darkmoon’s life, lest we forget.”

“And Darkmoon alone,” said Flightstar. 

“And Smokyrose,” Goldenstar scowled.

“Who was a mediator,” continued Flightstar stubbornly. “She could not have been difficult to overpower.” Oddstripe’s tail bristled instinctively and somewhere in the crowd he heard Fogpaw growling. The energy of the Gathering was starting to shift in a dangerous direction.

“Be careful not to speak ill of the dead,” warned Snowstar, sensing the change.

“I speak ill of no one,” Flightstar’s lip curled as he spoke. “I am simply stating the fact that these rogues are not the elite fighting force you two try to make them out to be. This all smells to me like a ploy to hunt in our territories now that leaffall is setting in and I’ll have none of it.” Tumblefang yowled her support from the middle of the crowd. 

“Look!” Stormwhisper called out, rising to his feet. “The moon!” 

With a chorus of gasps, the assembled cats threw their gazes skyward to see a cluster of wispy clouds in the early stages of choking out the moon’s light. Oddstripe stood too, eyes wide. In all his time as a healer, this had never happened, even though Sagetooth had told him stories of it before. 

“See?” Oddstripe recognized Scorchplume’s voice. “StarClan disapproves of your stubborn refusal to help the other Clans!” 

“No,” Tumblefang shouted back, “they’re sick of cats like you trying to take advantage of the rest of us!” 

“Cats like me?” Scorchplume laughed. 

“Easy,” Goldenstar said, projecting authoritatively. “We should all work to be less contentious with each other. Let’s calm down and pray we regain their favor.” 

From the east side of the clearing, a new voice cried out at the top of its lungs, “Help!” Oddstripe whipped around, Aldertail’s panicked shouts spiking fear through his chest.

“Aldertail?” Goldenstar gasped. “Aldertail, what’s going on?” 

“I-it’s the camp!” she sobbed, skidding to a halt as every eye turned in her direction. “The Exalted, th-they’re attacking the camp!” 

Russetfrond took off, leaping from his seat beside Bogmist and weaving through the crowd with a speed and purpose Oddstripe had rarely seen him use. Sparrowsway fell into step right behind him, his mentor’s dutiful second paw. 

“Fogpaw!” Scorchplume hissed as her apprentice took off after them.

“Come on,” Floodstrike looked at his friends before darting into the trees as well. Fishtrick took off after him, her ginger tail streaming out behind her, and Boldmoth stared up at Orangestar in bewilderment. Orangestar exchanged a look with Goldenstar then nodded. 

“EarthClan, let’s show those rogues what happens when they mess with warriors!” Orangestar shouted and then she and Goldenstar leapt down from the Cornerstones to follow. 

“SkyClan, likewise!” Snowstar boomed. “To war!” 

Everything was happening so fast. As more cats streamed out of the clearing, Oddstripe fought his way over to Aldertail. She was shaking, eyes shut tight, pressed down into a tiny ball on the ground. 

“Aldertail!” he cried, curling around her. “Are you alright?”

Branchbark joined them, eyes wide. “Aldertail, are you hurt?” 

“No, no,” Aldertail sobbed, shaking her head. “I ran as soon as I saw them! I’m so sorry, I’m such a coward!” 

“Oh, no!” Oddstripe pressed his head close to hers. “You came and got help! That was the right thing to do.” 

“I have to go,” Branchbark said, looking torn.

Oddstripe nodded to him. “I know. We’ll be fine, go help the others.” Branchbark nodded and bounced on his feet before taking off in a sprint. Aldertail pressed closer to Oddstripe’s side and whimpered.

Behind them, FallenClan had congregated at the base of the Cornerstones, talking in hushed voices, and Oddstripe heard Blazingbrush say, “StarClan’s sign is clear. The other Clans need our help.” 

“They have their help,” Flightstar growled. “We don’t need to get involved.” 

“What if our warriors make the difference between victory and defeat?” asked Ryestripe. 

“If they were better at defending their borders, they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place,” spat Tumblefang. 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Ryestripe growled back. 

“Enough!” Flightstar snapped. “We’re going home. Anyone who wants to go to RisingClan’s camp can stay there permanently, understood?” There was a long pause then he stormed off into the woods in the opposite direction as the rest of the cats had gone. One by one, the FallenClan warriors followed him. 

Blazingbrush stared after her Clanmates, mouth open. “But-” She looked at the deputy, the last cat to go, and said, “Pigeoncover- You have to convince him! Surely, we can’t just do nothing!” 

Pigeoncover stood still for a beat, not looking at her. Then they softly said, “You’re already on thin ice, Blazingbrush. It would be best if you came along.” Blazingbrush looked like she had been struck. Still unable to meet her gaze, Pigeoncover slank into the woods after their father, leaving Blazingbrush, Oddstripe, and Aldertail alone in the clearing together. 

Oddstripe wanted to go to the other healer but he didn’t want to tear himself away from Aldertail’s shaking body. He opened his mouth but Blazingbrush looked at him and the words escaped his mind. They looked at each other for a long, hollow moment. 

“I’m so sorry,” Blazingbrush said. 

“It’s okay,” Oddstripe replied. “I understand.” 

Blazingbrush swallowed and bowed her head in defeat as she trailed after her Clanmates. Oddstripe took a deep breath and let it out slowly. As he did, he sent a silent prayer to StarClan.Let this be enough, he prayed. Let everyone survive. Guide their claws and deliver them from their enemies. Please, let it be enough.

[tallclan]

Moon 1 - Spring

It has only been a moon since TallClan was founded. A moon since they made their camp on the side of Stars’ Peak. As a newborn clan with so little cats, clan life was uneventful and tasks were completed fairly quickly, leaving the cats to their own devices for what was left of the day. Many retreated back to their dens for rest, while others stayed in the clearing to talk amongst themselves as they bathed in the warmth of the spring sun.

Deep inside the leader’s den, Icystar’s mind could not rest. Through the entrance of her den, she looked out into the clearing. Her eyes were focused on the clan’s only apprentices, Bonepaw and Marigoldpaw. More specifically, on Bonepaw, the oldest of the two.

“Something on your mind?”

Icystar snapped out of her thoughts as her mate and deputy, Sapflow, walked into the den and took a seat beside her, resting his tail on her shoulder.

“Daydream wants us to conduct a warrior assessment for Bonepaw now that he’s 12 moons old. She says that he’s ready, but I’m not sure. I was hoping we could hold it back for the next moon or two.”, Icystar explained. Her attention was still set on Bonepaw.

Sapflow looked at her in surprise. “Why? The clan needs as many warriors as it can get.”

“I know that, but you and Daydream don’t know Bonepaw like I do. Ever since he was a kit, he’s been highly strung. I was hoping that age would toughen him up, but he’s still the same! Our clan’s warriors should be confident and daring! How will the other clans perceive us if the first warrior I welcome is nervous and insecure?” The end of Icystar’s reasoning started to sound more like a rant as frustration and anxiety took over her mind.

While none of the leaders of the other clans were vocally against StarClan’s will to form TallClan, she saw doubt in their eyes. How could a clan survive in a mountain that had claimed the lives of so many before them? How could they be expected to protect the former sacred grounds of StarClan from rogues if their warriors weren’t up to the task? As the cat who had received the message from StarClan, Icystar had a lot to prove.

“Well, you want to know what I think? There’s more to being a warrior than being quick to launch into action without a second thought. What Bonepaw lacks in confidence, he makes up for with his teaching skills,” Sspflow began to advise, “Just look! Marigoldpaw and all the other cats that came from the forest and the field have adjusted well into living in the mountains and it’s all thanks to Bonepaw! He’s passing down what he’s learned being born here.”

When Icystar didn’t answer at first, he added, “Plus, he’s done a great job adapting to this big change. If you ask me, leaving his birth clan to start a completely new one is very brave of him to do at such a young age. He’s the sort of warrior we need to ensure our clan’s future generations prosper.”

His words held the truth. One that Icystar couldn’t deny even if she wanted to. “You’re right,” she said, before letting out a sigh, “I’m sorry. I’m just so nervous about all of this… I have a lot to prove. Not only to the others, but to StarClan themselves. I’m worried that if I make a mistake, they’ll regret ever entrusting me with this important task.”

Sapflow’s ears perked as she began opening up to him. Icystar was hardly one to be vulnerable in front of someone else, including him. Sure, they were mates, but that was more of a conventional matter. Icystar needed a deputy. Someone to help her guide the clan and to provide heirs with. Since it was his ancestor that delivered StarClan’s message to her and was the clan’s Spiritual Guide, he seemed like the most obvious choice.

“You know, no one is perfect for this job and no one will ever be,” Sapflow reassured her, “I’m sure StarClan knows this and they won’t fault you for any mistakes you make along the way. They chose you for a reason and it must be a good one.”

For the first time since he arrived, Icystar looked at him. It was hard to read her expression and for a moment, he wondered if he said the wrong thing… That is until she smiled at him. A smile that he hadn’t seen since the time they were GlintClan apprentices.

“Were you always this good with words?” she said, light-heartedly, “I don’t remember you ever being this wise!”

Sapflow felt his face flush and he looked away. “Of course! Otherwise, I wouldn’t be your deputy now, would I?” Internally, he cringed at his words, but Icystar’s giggles put him at ease.

Icystar • 52 moons old • Ambitous

Sapflow • 54 moons old • Wise

Later that day, before the sun sets, a warrior assessment was held for Bonepaw. Just as his mentor, Daydream, had predicted, he passed with flying colors! With their ancestors looking over them, Icystar was proud to welcome Bonebracken as TallClan’s first warrior! He’s honored for his efficiency. He has gone from insecure to nervous. He’s grown to be a good teacher!

Daydream • 30 moons old • Strange

Bonebracken • 12 moons old • Nervous

Icystar and Mulberrystripe, TallClan’s Lead Healer, have been best friends ever since their days as apprentices when the only times they could really interact with one another was during the Gatherings. Now that they’re in the same clan, they spend the majority of their free time together.

Icystar • 52 moons old • Ambitious

Mulberrystripe • 57 moons old • Competitive

CLIMB UP

[salt-clangen]

Moon 4 part 1

Greenleaf

It’s just after dawn when the duo sets out, trying to avoid the sweltering heat that signaled the start of greenleaf. Wolfpaw had been reluctant to bring Lynxkit with her, the journey was long, likely a few days. But she couldn’t leave the kit alone in the camp, who would feed her, what if there was a storm? Or she got sick?

They’d been fortunate to avoid any major illness or injury so far, but Lynxkit’s recent…. Herbal lesson had reminded her how close they were to disaster. They had to take the risk and make the journey to the High caves. It had taken some time for her figure how to get there while avoiding Duskclan, but she was confident in her plan.

She’d been teaching Lynxkit about borders when it’d hit her, she’d traced a basic outline of the clan’s territories, showing her where Saltclan met Honeyclan and Duskclan. That’s when it clicked, they could go around Duskclan. By following the coast west until they reached the water two-leg place they could avoid Honeyclan. Then they could follow the thunderpath north, opposite of Oakclan, until it veered eastward and passed over the high cave.

Before leaving, Wolfpaw wrapped her tooth necklace around her tail, smiling as she showed it off to Lynxkit. Chatter filled their morning as the clouds wilted under the sun, Lynxkit surprisingly animated as they walked.

“Next moon I’ll be old enough to be an apprentice!” She cheered, bumping her head against Wolfpaw’s shoulder, big enough to almost knock her over.

“Yeah, you are, not sure who your mentor will be, but uh I guess that’s why we gotta visit the Moon spring.” She chuckled, nerves making her stomach twist.

“Do you think they’ll give you your warrior name?”

“I don’t think so, um but maybe.” She said, voice wavering again, Lynxkit wisely changed the subject, talking about her last herb lesson. Wolfpaw felt relieved and a little impressed, she doubt she’d been so mature when she was 5 moons old.

The walk up the coast was uneventful, the tide still high so they had to dodge waves a little, but the cool water a relief for the heat that was slowly growing. The water two-leg place wasn’t busy, Wolfpaw had watched them for a few days recently, she knew they had to be quick before the flood of two-legs that would show up closer to mid day.

They had to climb up a steep hill to duck under the tall ocean bridge, the wood creaking and old, smelling of fish and salt. Waiting for a clear shot, they trotted quickly past a group of chattering two-legs and into some brush beside the giant nest. They were officially in foreign territory, relying on instinct and awareness.

“Do you remember our signal lessons?” Wolfpaw asked, voice hushed. “Tail up straight means stop, tail hooked means danger run, and tail rippling means go forward.” She demonstrated each move briefly, Lynxkit mimed along.

They wait as a group of young two-legs exit a monster’s belly and stomp past their hiding spot. Both cats tensed, hackles raised as they watched. Wolfpaw had seen two-legs from a distance, her mother and mentor Jaggedstar had made sure to show her their most dangerous enemy. But it was different up close, she could smell their strange scent, a mix that could only be called predatory, dangerous.

A break in the noise, a quick glance around, and the pair darted forward across the dark thunderpath the monsters were resting on. The ground beneath their paws was hot, nearly burning them as they ran. The smell was overwhelming, choking back bile they pressed on until they reach the long grass on the other side.

“Ok, ok.” Wolfpaw coughed, her eyes watering as she fought to catch her breath. “We should head north now and follow the thunderpath until it splits east.”

“Will we need to cross again?” Lynxkit couldn’t help the whine in her voice, she was fighting a wave of nausea.

“No, not until we come back.” She shook her fur out, settling into a loaf a little further away from the thunderpath. “Let’s catch our breath, then we’ll go north.”

Lynxkit was grateful for the break, her stamina was easily depleted by the trip along the coast and then the adrenaline of navigating the two-leg place.

As they head north, the sun blazed hotter on their backs, the dry grass providing poor shade to the heat. The winds shifted and Wolfpaw took a moment to check, nose in the air as they paused. It was hard to tell, with the thunderpath so close, but thought she could smell cats. Signaling to pause, she scented again, slinking forward she could see a large figure before her.

A monster.

She shuddered, there shouldn’t be a monster off of the thunderpath. Wolfpaw creeped a little closer, tail puffed up.

“Hey there tadpole.” A voice called from above.

Wolfpaw leaped back with a hiss, stepping on Lynxkit as she did, a yelp escaping from both of them.

“Woah, settle down. Didn’t mean to scare you and the runt there.” It was an old cat, a black and white molly, she was lounging on top of the monster. She had a price of cloth tied around her neck.

Wolfpaw had heard of loners that traded with clan cats, but she hadn’t thought she’d ever meet them.

“Um hi, I’m Wolfpaw.” She called walking a little closer with Lynxkit, the older cat smiled as they approached and she could see the scar covering the side of her face. It reminded her of Burnpaw. “This is Lynxkit.”

“I’m Capri, this is my post.” She chuckled. “I imagine this is your first time here?” The pair entered the small clearing surrounding the monster. “Well don’t worry, this thing here ain’t run in ages. We use it to keep our goods.”

“We?” Lynxkit asked tentatively.

“My granddaughter and I.” Capri gestured down, to the belly of the dead monster, a large red and white cat lounged. Watching them with lazy green eyes. “That’s Jade.”

“Yo.”

As Jade stretched and stepped out of the monster, Wolfpaw shrunk back a little, watching the huge cat unfurl. She had a rich, cardinal coat, heavy jowls, and a thick, bushy tail. Like her grandma also had cloth around her neck.

“Y’all clan cats?”

“Yeah, we’re uh heading north.” She paused.

“Oh? I thought you’d be here to trade.” Jade said. “What’re you doing north?”

“Now Jade, don’t be rude, you know those clans like their privacy.” Capri laughed, she jumped down from her perch. “Here, it’s hot have some water.” She nodded towards a weird, shiny bowl.

As the young cats took turns Capri dug around inside the dead monster, Wolfpaw snuck a glance surprised to see clan made pottery inside.

“Don’t be shy now, you can browse.” Capri joked, winking at the young cat over her shoulder. Wolfpaw flushed with embarrassment and ducked her head as an apology.

“Wow! How’d you get those to look so good?” Lynxkit gasped, coming closer to look at the jars.

“Hell if I know, I got those from some Oakclan cats.” The older cat laughed and beckoned the kit closer, all of Lynxkit’s fear of the monster gone as she stood on her hind legs to investigate.

“Ya seem a little young to be out of your clan.” Jade eyed the pair, especially the kit. “I thought untrained cats- uh what’s it- apprentices had to be with an adult.” It wasn’t said as a question, Wolfpaw glanced at her nervously. It was odd being around cats again after so long with just Lynxkit, it was unnerving.

“Jade.” Capri warned again. “Leave them alone, I’m sure they’ve got a reason being here.” She seemed to know more than she should, Wolfpaw wondered how much more.

“I think we should know if a clan cat’s gonna come huffing and puffing because these two snuck out for a walk about.” She shot back, her grandma ignored her finally fishing out what she’d wanted.

“Here!” She dropped some dried minnows on the grass. “Lil snack for ya before you go.”

“Oh thank you, Capri!” Lynxkit purred.

“Thank you, ma’am, but we don’t have anything to trade.” Wolfpaw said, tail blocking Lynxkit from going for the food.

“Nonsense, it’s nothing we’d miss. Plus I’ve got a soft spot for kits.” Capri smiled, eyes closing pleasantly with a purr. “But if you don’t like gifts, then you could trade something else.” This got Wolfpaw tense, ready to spring, neither loner reacted to her display.

“What would that be?” She asked, tugging the kit closer to herself.

“You could tell us why you’re heading north.” Jade offered. “That way you get the food but don’t owe us anything and I get to be nosey.” At this she finally cracked a grin.

“I think we should tell them.” Lynxkit piped up, butting her head against Wolfpaw’s chin. “I think they’re nice.”

“Aw thank you darlin’.” Capri’s purr was loud and rumbling. “I think you’re nice too.”

“Alright, I guess that’s ok.” Wolfpaw said, feeling a little relieved for the first time.

Capri pulls out two jars, one has a cooled herbal tea and the other a reddish jam. She takes a sip of the tea then offers both to the others. Jade also takes a drink while Lynxkit inspects the jam.

“It’s jam, Honeyclan makes it with honey and flowers, I don’t know if you can taste sweet stuff but I heard it’s very sweet.” Wolfpaw explains to her friend, Capri dips a piece of dried meat into the jam. Lynxkit mimics her with the minnow, the excitement in her eyes dies when she doesn’t notice the flavor.

“Sorry runt,” Jade laughs. “I can’t taste sweets either.”

“So, what clan are you from?” Capri asks, eye bright with curiousity.

“Um well that’s why we’re going north. We’re going to the Moon spring.” Wolfpaw bit into her fish.

“Oh that’s a long journey, it’ll take you at least a full day of walking. You won’t get there until well after sunset even if you leave now.” Jade said.

“Why don’t you go through your clan’s territory, I imagine it’d be much faster?” Capri asked.

“Well, we aren’t really….part of that clan.”

“Well if you just asked I’m sure they’d let you through, I know the Moon spring is important to y’all so I bed they’d understand.” Capri offered.

“We aren’t apart of any clan, not technically.” She said sheepishly.

“What do you mean? You smell like clan cats, you talk and act like them. Hell you got clan names.” Jade asked, head cocked.

“We used to be in Duskclan, but uh we left and now we’re in a new clan.”

“Which one? Oakclan? Honeyclan?” Capri asked.

“Saltclan.” Lynxkit cheered, mouth full of fish.

“Saltclan? Never heard of it.”

“Me neither and I been around a long while.”

“We just started it, we’re going to the Moon spring to get blessed by Starclan.” Wolfpaw felt a little proud saying that out loud.

“I didn’t know you could just start a clan but I guess it makes sense.” Jade shrugged.

“So this brand new clan decided to send two youngins on a days long journey? With no supplies?” Capri suddenly stood, fur puffed up with indignation. “Who’s the leader of this clan? I’d like to give them my two bits.”

“Umm I guess I am.” Wolfpaw wanted to melt. “It’s just us two and I didn’t think it would take more than a day. Kinda thought we’d be back by sundown.”

“Well that settles it, Jade you’re going with them. Make sure they make it safely.” Capri announces with a huff before settling back into a loaf.

Jade just grunted, her grandma was a big softy for kits.

“Oh that’s ok you don’t have to, we don’t have anything in exchange for it.” Wolfpaw argued.

“Listen tadpole, sometimes a cat just wants to do a nice thing because they’re nice.” Jade waved her off. “Gramma here is a nice cat, not everything has to be a trade.” Capri blinked lovingly at her granddaughter.

“If I weren’t so creaky, I’d take ya myself but I can’t go to far nowadays before I need to rest.” The elder grinned at the young cats again, the small meal finished she began cleaning her face with a broad paw.

“Alright, if you’re sure it’s ok.” Wolfpaw relented, licking Lynxkit’s head to ease her nerves.

The patrol set off again, trying to make up for lost time. Jade walking confidently at the front, she knew the territory best and could signal with her tail if there was danger. She even signaled just how Wolfpaw had learned in duskclan.

It was odd being around an adult cat again, she’d forgotten how small she still was. Though she suspected that Jade’s size outclassed most of her clan cats, she may even overshadow Jaggedstar and Greyclaw, her biggest family members. She took time to admire the cat in front of her, feeling flushed as she did, little bits of nerves rustled in her stomach.

Jade walk with a smooth gait, brisk but not running, head held not too high or low. Her cat had only one scar and otherwise was shiny and thick, her paws were massive though she stepped lightly. Wolfpaw tried mimicking her stride, hoping to glean a bit of her confidence.

Lynxkit would’ve giggled at Wolfpaw’s ogling if she wasnt busy trying to keep up. Her legs were shorter and her stamina limited. She’d likely need a break soon or to be carried.

The spent most of the walk in a peaceful quiet, only interrupted by the occasional monster or Jade notating a landmark. Eventually she took Lynxkit on her broad shoulders, allowing the kit a break, which she took to ask questions or tell stories.

As the sun got lower and the patrol finally reached the east bound thunderpath, Wolfpaw explained more of their story. Leaving out some details for her own sake, she briefly summarized Saltclans meager story. Jade didn’t contribute much verbally, but she did ask questions and seemed interested in the answers.

Finally, Jade slowed the patrol, allowing Lynxkit to climb down from her perch. With the scent of the thunderpath choking her, Wolfpaw had a hard time scenting, but Jade seemed used to it.

“We’ll need to cross up ahead, at the rock outcropping there.” She gestured up ahead to what Wolfpaw assumed was the High cave. “Then we’ll climb down and the entrance is right there.”

Waiting for a moment, Jade signaled when to cross, her line of sight was clear and she knew how to spot monsters. The stinky, slick stone of the thunderpath still felt hot under paw but didn’t burn like before. Once across the trio clambered down the rocks and Wolfpaw was able to scent and gather her bearings.

She could smell the boards of Oakclan and Duskclan, but very strong at the edge of the neutral space. But she couldn’t smell any cats approaching, as long as the stayed down wind they’d have an advantage on any unexpected encounters. The stream leading out of the cave was loud a littler further down so it would help cover any sounds they make.

“I’ll stay out here and keep watch.” Jade said.

With her mouth dry, Wolfpaw only nodded her acknowledgment. She and Lynxkit peered into the cave, they could hear the gentle bubbling of the spring was soothing, though she suddenly missed the ocean waves. Odd how such a short time changed so much.

Picking her way over the rocks, she signaled for Lynxkit to hold back. The cave was wet and slippery, hard to get her traction, she fell a few times trying to navigate her way. The day was catching up with her and she felt like her entire body was sore and pulsating.

Eventually, she found the flat banks along the water, she followed it deeper into the cave. The sliver of moon wasn’t quiet enough to light up the entire cave, but the water did hold a strange luminescence she’d never seen.

Once all light aside from the water was gone she found that the tunnel ended with a proper cave, the ceiling was high, at least 6 tail lengths and she could hear the rumble of the thunderpath. In the center she saw a pool of glowing water, bubbling up from a large crack in the smooth rock floor. Wolfpaw approached the pool, reaching down to drink.

Her paw slipped.

She hit the water.

She couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t move.

A cry barely making it past her lips.

She had no energy left.

She couldn’t paddle.

She sank deeper into the water, air escaping out of her slack mouth.

Next

Prev

Moon 0

[animatewarriorcats]

Ivytail! She is a Shadowclan apprentice/warrior in the Power of Three and Omen of the Stars arcs. We don't know a ton about her, she is a fairly proud apprentice, thinking very highly of her skills and her clan during the daylight gathering, and refusing to show any emotion when first introduced, like a good shadowclan warrior. She is in a few key scenes after that, first on a patrol that takes Lionpaw and co to speak to Blackstar, As the sentry when Hollypaw is sent to ask shadowclan for help in the battle of the eclipse, and as part of the gathered cats when Sol joins Shadowclan. She is also part of a group of shadowclan cats that intercept a Thunderclan patrol for almost hunting on shadowclan and then they mock the thunderclan cats about starclan and not being able to fight their own battles enough that Birchfall attacks Snaketail. She then doubles down when the TC patrol tries to pull Birch out by doubting if thunderclan can fight their own battles while the cats tear each other apart which is admittedly, kind of funny. The next arc she is listed as a queen in every book. She doesn't have a canon mate and though I headcanon Toadfoot that's just because they share a mouse once and he repairs the nursery wall while she's a queen. She also doesn't have any canon kits, despite the fact that she was very near kitting the winter Flametail falls through the ice. In my mind, this is fascinating, and makes me wonder if she miscarried or if there is another explanation as to why she doesn't reappear in the final three books of this arc. There is a scene in the last hope where Pinenose is crying over a slaughtered kit which has been assumed to be hers, but the age doesn't match the rest of her canon litter (who's father spikefur is yet to be a 'paw, spontaneously generated in the super editions between the next arc), which makes me wonder if this was not an editing error and it was supposed to be Ivytail instead, espcially because Pinenose is not even listed as a queen in that book. In any case, even though the time between when she was introduced as a paw and when she retires in the next super edition is only two years, her last listing in the allegiances is in Bramblestar's storm where she has retired to the elders den.

[saltsongwc]

How do the swapped roles change Tiger and Spotted’s relationships with Fireheart? Also, how does it change the roles of Tiger’s clique (Darkstripe, Longtail, Dustpelt, possibly Goldenflower, etc.)?

Hooooo boy I'm gonna ramble-

So first of, context for how I envision the characters acting, I think Spotted's role in the narrative is much less violent than Tiger, she doesn't want to cause deaths unless necessary, because that would be bad for her, in a "The more lies you tell the more you have to keep track of", she genuinely thought Bluestar would pick her over Lionheart when she killed Redtail. Alas the plan failed, so I think she would try to gaslight Ravenpaw more than outright threaten him into silence, I don't think Ravenpaw would buy it, but it would lend to a more trusting relationship between her and Fireheart at the end of Into the Wild, a "Was Raven telling the truth or is she actually innocent?" is the thought Fireheart has.

So on her part, Fireheart and her are friends in a sort of "Dark mentor vs Good Mentor", she's trying to influence Fireheart by noticing how much trust Bluestar has on him, and her voice as one of his friends does mitigate the hostilities from other cats (particularly Dustpelt and Darkstripe as Darkstripe was her apprentice (because Tigerfoot can't mentor him)).

With Tiger, the fact he's very intimidating even when he doesn't want to and outright a bit antagonistic to Fireheart at the beginning (because kittypet (Tiger still has daddy issues and associates them to kittypets instead of outright going to therapy)) leads to a "I don't want to listen to you because you're mean" relationship that just escalates when Shadowclan steals the kits, Tiger does survive Clawface but he's basically knockout for the rest of the adventure, eventually having to grind his teeth when Bluestar welcomes Yellowfang to be the new medicine cat ("She saved your life and will help you while you recuperate")

Fireheart does begin to spend more time in the medicine den to chat with Yellow which eventually leads to more interactions with Tiger, I think however, they would become closer friends when Cinderpaw is hit by the monster, as now it's not just chatting with Yellow but also basically spending 24/7 by the entrance, and now Graystripe is also gone.

They would take a hit for a bit when Spotted betrays Thunderclan and almost murders Bluestar, Tiger is conflicted if the trust on Fireheart was misplaed considering he was friends with Spotted, but I think they would patch it up, their relationship and dynamic is rocky, and he's the pessimist in the trio of medicine cats before the fire.

OKAY TIGER'S CLIQUE, which is, not that extensive, he's isolated by choice most of the time, hermit would be word, that isn't to say he doesn't have friends, just, limits his circle, he wouldn't even consider Bluestar a friend, just the authority figure he's taught to respect, I think the only two of the clique that remain would be Goldenflower and Longtail, and just add Whitestorm into the mix, my reasonings:

Due to this AU having Leopardfoot's death happen during his apprenticeship instead of later in life, Goldeflower takes a bit of sympathy for him, in a "Look at this wet cat" way, I'm making them contemporaries instead of canon "She's much older than him", so she's part of the apprentice clique and is part of his support systm during Leapordfoot's death, she definetly had a crush on him when she was a warrior and he was a new medcat, but they never went further than that, I think when she has Swiftkit it's a sort of "What if?" moment for both of them, a very "Things could've been different" that they both regret, if only a bit. But she remains a close friend of his.

Longtail's addition to the clique is much less direct than in canon, because Longtail is salty about losing to a kittypet (and an apprentice no less), so he complains to Tiger while healing and Tiger just complains back, a friendship born of talking shit behind other's back. Longtail separates away from Darkstripe and Spotted when he sees they're just being all cozy cozy with the cat that TORE his EAR the AUDICITY/j, he feels betrayed by who he thought would be on his side, eventually realizing "Oh, this cat doesn't deserve my hatred", and when eventually from Goldeflower he finds out why Tiger dislikes Fireheart he realizes that the narrow minded point of view of hating by the sake of hating is not healthy. I think he takes a break from both clique's for a while.

THANKS for the ask and thank you for letting me ramble

[whitejays-galaxy]

Hii, I finally finished writing the suggestions :D sorry that it took a while

Qui-Gon sees Sifo-Dyas and Rael meeting (or he sees just Rael) after he got exiled and runs up to his older brother and is very happy

I combined three of your asks and made a long ass lore comic

Hope you enjoy it

Lore in text form below :3

Lore:

Before Frostshard(Dooku) took Sagekit(Qui-Gon) as his Padawan, he had another apprentice before him, a cat by the name of Brambletuft(Rael).

Bramblekit was found by the Seekers and brought to Dawnclan(Jedi Order) at a very young age, like most Force-Sensitive cats destined to be knights.

Untamed and wild from the start, he often gave a lot of knights a headache, including Wolfheart(Plo-Koon), who was in charge of babysitting kits who hadn't turned 6 moons old.

Yet most praised his honesty and independence nevertheless.

It was those qualities that made Frostshard choose him as his first apprentice; he thought of training the rowdy kit as a personal challenge, since nobody dared to take him on as their padawan, he wanted to prove to his fellow clanmates that he could train Bramblekit into a great knight.

The two got along quite well together because of their similar views of the Republic and the ways of the Force.

Soon, their bond grew into something like a father-son relationship over the moons, and Bramblepaw passed the trials when the time came, becoming a full knight of Dawnclan, renamed Brambletuft.

For a while, everything seemed to go well, until the incident happened.

During a mission in one of the Outer Rim territories, Brambletuft was forced to kill his apprentice, Opalpaw(Nim), when her mind was destroyed by a poisonous dart.

Chaos erupted in Dawnclan when Brambletuft dragged back Opalpaw's mangled corpse, and word quickly spread about the knight who lost control of his Padawan.

Dawnclan was about to lose the Republic's faith and the Chancellor's, who kept sending messages to Horizonstar(Yoda) that they were highly disturbed by the incident, questioning whether they had lost control of their knights.

A trial was held a few days later, and Horizonstar exiles Brambletuft from Dawnclan.

Not wanting to cause more trouble, and feeling the need for a journey to redeem himself, Brambletuft agrees to his leader's terms, despite Frostshard backing him up, and leaves the very next day.

Frostshard knew the reason why Horizonstar exiled Brambletuft; all because to convince the politicians that Dawnclan was not falling apart.

This makes him think that he'd failed to protect his former Padawan, and his trust in both himself and his clan shatters.

And Brambletuft's mentality shattering since the incident didn't help at all.

Not wanting to ruin another Padawan's life, Frostshard vows to never take on another apprentice for the rest of his life.

A few years later, Seersight(Sifo) receives a vision of a hospital in Tribe Dune(Tatooine)'s destruction, and despite the Council refusing to help, Frostshard and Seersight slip out of Dawnclan and go to their aid nevertheless(since they both thought helping others regardless of rank and side was their main priority as knights)

Seersight's vision came true, since the hospital met its destruction by a thunderstorm, in which lightning set it ablaze and broken.

The duo and the other healers worked hard to save the patients in the crumbling hospital, and most got rescued.

One of them was the slave, Sagekit(Qui-Gon), whom Toadflap(Watto) left to die when he decided it was too risky to rescue his property.

Frostshard senses the abandoned and terrified Sagekit amongst the blazing rubble. The kitten's situation forcefully reminded the white cat of his kithood, and as if driven by an invisible force, he riskily rescued him, almost dying of burns and smoke inhalation.

Sagekit, thankfully recovers fast, and now that he is free from slavery, agrees to stay with Seersight.

He also befriends Brambletuft, who was currently taking refuge in Tribe Dune, and when he hears about his former Master in trouble, he comes to the cave.

Sagekit was nervous at first, but the older cat was patient with him, being gentle and keeping him company while Seersight nursed Frostshard.

Soon, Brambletuft realizes Sagekit is Force-Sensitive, and tells Seersight to take him back to Dawnclan to train as a knight.

Seersight tries to persuade Frostshard to give another shot at training another apprentice, but he refuses, unable to let go of his guilt of failing Brambletuft.

It was only when Brambletuft urges him to let go of his past and forgive himself, did Frostshard has a change of heart.

When Frostshard finally recovered enough to travel back, Seersight bids farewell to Brambletuft and goes back to Dawnclan, taking Sagekit along.

Before they parted ways, Brambletuft promised to visit Sagekit again, when he was ready.

And he does, after Sagekit becomes Frostshard's Padawan, by sneaking in Dawnclan frequently to make sure they were doing okay.

Drawing this comic was a blast!

I got to practice my storytelling and drawing of different cat poses and angles, so this was a huge treat.

Thank you for all these asks Repa, and thank you for being so patient with me for waiting 2 long months

See more of my Cat Au designs here :3

The Disaster lineage (Yoda, Dooku, Qui, Obi, Anakin, Ahsoka + lore)

Prequel villains (Sidious, Dooku, Maul, Vader + Lore)

Kit-Fisto

Plo-Koon and Ahsoka

Sifo Dyas and Dooku

Disaster trio(Obi, Ani, Soka) doodles

Smol comics(ft. Qui, Rael, Sifo, Dooku): pt 1

Aayla Secura and Quinlan Voss

Luke and Leia

Padme

DO NOT COPY ANY OF MY CAT DESIGNS

This is a PERSONAL AU and they mean so much to me