#(it's called being cooler and awesomer and interestinger than everyone else)

[deadfooting]

I would like to hear about your Deadstar au!

and howdy specifically to the other two of you who said yes. thanks for enabling me :3

basis for some of the timeline stuff takes inspiration from @bonefall’s better bones AU, where squirrelflight, leafpool, and crowfeather are full adults by the time of the TNP journey. there are some family tree shuffles, and event additions/changes/shuffles as well.

the point where it diverges from canon is at the windclan massacre. tallstar loses one of his lives in the slaughter, and deadfoot struggles to drag his leader's recovering body across the moor as fast as possible. ashfoot is helping usher cats out of camp as well, and the moor cats flee as far as they can into the night. deadfoot leads his clan to a distant, murky tunnel, and the group then starts to live off rats.

deadfoot waits patiently for some kind of word to reach them about the state of the other clans and their home. maybe bluestar would've found her need for justice spurred, and sent out a patrol to fetch them?

every day, deadfoot watches the horizon, watches as his leader's lives drain away from sickness and starvation as he offers his meals to the cats that need it more, hoping someone will appear over the rise to save the clan.

but they are alone.

finally, tallstar succumbs to the weakness he's subjected himself to in hopes the rest of his beloved clan could thrive. mourning is quick and short-lived; there's no time to honor his memory at the moment. windclan is dying, starving, and ill; and deadfoot must take up the mantle of the forsaken clan immediately. there is no time to waste.

unfortunately, deadfoot lacks the proper rights to fully assume the title of leader; the pilgrimage to the moonstone is unfeasible at this time. their ancestors have turned their backs on them, and refuse to send any guidance. deadstar feels as though his new ‘name’ is an omen in and of itself; it symbolizes the dying nature of his clan. the stars that were once their ancestors are dying, leaving their descendants deserted and forgotten.

some cats want to return to the forest territories, but deadstar and ashfoot forbid it. the cats can’t return back, lest the other clans chase them out again; or even worse, they’ve already colonized their land, and windclan does not have the stench or number to take their moors back.

eventually, though, the cats do decide to look for greener pastures and they vacate the murky, rat-infested tunnels. they settle into some land adjacent to a twolegplace, but it’s… not great. their land back home was far more flourishing and generous to the clan. but it’ll have to do for now.

ashfoot then bears two kits: eaglekit and crowkit. they are some of the healthiest and strongest kits the clan has seen in their time of exile! it must be a sign of good times and fortune, and that starclan is looking down on them once more! the children carry stars in their eyes, glistening like the tears of their clanmates who lost loved ones in shadowclan’s invasion.

as they grow, barkface takes on crowpaw as an apprentice. eaglepaw is apprenticed to (idk man there’s not enough room in my brain for information that’s not my OC but whatevs. also i don’t really remember what other windclan warriors would be alive at this time? my knowledge is rusty, forgive me. anyway it’s probablyyyy onewhisker bc of future things that happen in this AU [insert me rubbing my hands together like an evil little fly]). early on in their their apprenticeship, barkface and deadstar prophesy that the siblings will deliver their clan out of exile. (i’m like. really bad at writing prophesies but i was mostly thinking of michael joncas’ song “on eagle’s wings” bc that was a song my elementary/middle school sang a lot during wednesday mass and also the idiom “as the crow flies”).

so, crowpaw heads out with his sister and eaglepaw to find a new land for their beloved clan; they come across the tribe cats, appreciate their hospitality, and carry on their way. then, over the ridge; they see it: a sparkling lake swathed in heather and oak. excitedly, they pick up the pace on their trek, eagerly exploring the land. the streams are clear and the moors are thick with unfamiliar but homely scents. eaglepaw remarks on the intense fernweh she feels, knowing her brother must share the same sensation.

this is it. their prophesied homeland.

crowpaw stumbles across a bubbling waterfall that cascades gently into a pool of stars and silver; it whispers to him, tickling his ears in foreign yet intriguing tongues. sleeping here with his sister for the night, crowpaw dreams of starclan, an unfamiliar body of cats he’s never known, yet walked beside his entire life.

a gangly black and white tom speaks out from the amorphous mass, introducing himself as tallstar. he’s pleased with crowpaw and eaglepaw’s journey, and relieved that barkface and deadstar heeded starclan’s word despite their moonslong silence. the only thing now is to return to their clan and lead them back here.

and that's exactly what the two siblings do. with two pairs of ears clipping over the horizon, the messiahs are spotted first by young warrior gorsepetal, who has just served his moonlight warrior vigil. he lets out a joyous, earsplitting yowl, quickly rousing deadstar from his sleep as he fears that shadowclan has tracked them down again to finish the job. but instead, the aged harley (my term for an old, non-male or -female cat. fran is my term for a younger one) is tackled by his twin children, who excitedly recount their journey in overlapping enthusiasm.

ashfoot peels her kits off their father, and they finally calm down to announce to the clan their journey and findings in alternating turns. pelts of their clanmates ruffle in excitement, anticipation, and apprehension; some suggest the clowder should head out for their promised land now, while others raise scrutiny about why they should trust the word of two juveniles who've been gone from their clan for several weeks.

eaglepaw jumps to her and her brother's defense. they raise a good point, yes, but why would the pair lie when they sincerely want what's best for their suffering clan? has windclan not been the holiest clan since its founding, traditionally sleeping under the stars? why do they want to reject starclan now when their ancestors have finally reached down to cradle the moor cats in their arms after so many moons of silence?

it's decided. the clan will set out in two days for their star-gifted land.

eaglepaw and crowpaw lead windclan through the mountains and into the land around the lake; the moor cats quickly take up the entire land for themself. the twins are commemorated for their guidance and achievements, and are named eagleflight for being the main navigatoron the journey and crowpond for discovering the moondpond. deadstar finally has a way to claim his 9 lives.

moons of prosper and fortune pass, but suddenly... strange scents float upon the wind one brisk morning. deadstar heads out with a large patrol to investigate, and they come upon a group of a brown tabby, a ginger molly, a brown and gold tortoiseshell, a light silver tabby, and a silver-gray tom. there are stars in the eyes of the ginger cat as deadstar introduces his patrol as cats of windclan. the others say they are brambleclaw and squirrelpaw of thunderclan, tawnypelt of shadowclan, and feathertail and stormfur of riverclan, respectively. deadstar's whiskers twitch with hesitant recognition of the clan names. thoughts still linger in the back of his mind that these cats are here to destroy windclan... but deadstar will give them a chance.

it's been ages. windclan will be fine.

squirrelpaw starts to gab about how she's heard of windclan; a fable of a music clan driven out for being too weak. insulted, deadstar snaps about how could they possibly be weak if the stars guided them here to this bountiful land for them all.

tawnypelt steps forward to quell the storm. she explains that starclan has also guided them here after they met with a badger who called herself midnight.

apprehensive but not inhospitable, deadstar reluctantly guides the travelers back to the central moor camp so the foreigners can rest and eat. they stay for day, and then leave out again towards the mountains.

some weeks later, a horde of mysterious cats suddenly swarms upon their land. they linger on the edges, but brambleclaw, squirrelpaw, tawnypelt, and stormfur are immediately recognized. deadstar and a patrol of various warriors escort the original travelers to their camp to explain what's going on.

stormfur mournfully mumbles how feathertail sacrificed her life to kill this mystical giant cat named sharptooth to save the tribe in the mountains shortly after they'd departed. brambleclaw recounts how twoleg monsters invaded their territories and started capturing cats, with squirrelpaw interjecting how they were poisoning the rivers and tearing their trees right out of the ground. tawnypelt weeps as she tells deadstar how they had to leave everything behind to keep themselves safe.

sympathy is first offered by deadstar, but then his fur bristles with anger as brambleclaw proposes that windclan let the other three clans settle around the lake.

and the black harley snaps.

why should he let them colonize their land that was gifted to them by starclan? sure, they were chased out of their land, but they had a choice to either adapt to their surroundings and lose cats in the process, or leave for a new land.

windclan didn't even get a fucking warning.

why should he let them settle their land, when they didn't even try to find them after their exile?

throwing them out, deadstar speaks of the other three clans' proposition. some cats united under mudclaw, who rejects the idea of the other clans living here. this is their land, and not up for the taking.

onewhisker is open to the idea of the other clans living here alongside them. it's been years; they shouldn't hold a grudge and make children pay for their forebearers' sins.

crowpond and eagleflight find themself at odds. crowpond says they should send these new felines way; they found this land first, and finders keepers. plus, that stupid brown tabby who's apparently the sister of squirrelpaw is starting to claim she found the new holy site, that she's calling the moonpool? when crowpond found the moonpond first?!

eagleflight, always one open to new possibilities... thinks they should give the newcomers a chance. she tells her brother that leafpool means no harm; she just doesn't know better. she's in an unfamiliar land, and the other clans haven't been with windclan for a generation or two; leafpool's probably got so many thoughts swirling around in that pretty little head of hers.

rebellion breaks out; mudclaw and onewhisker both leading their respective sides. deadstar and ashfoot are trying their best to keep their clan united, but onewhisker's forces have teamed up with the rest of the clans to force themselves in.

in the resulting lakewide battle, deadstar loses a life; he sees tallstar, who can't bear to meet his former deputy's gaze. he didn't want it to end up this way. starclan is deliberating what the clans' fate will be. deadstar is sent back to his body, pleading for guidance on what to do.

deadstar wakes up just in time to see mudclaw and onewhisker grappling in shallow waters several paces ahead of him. as mudclaw rises to try and slam onewhisker's head into the water to drown him, onewhisker kicks the brown tabby away with his powerful hindlegs. lightning strikes in sync with the kick, and a dying tree is sent crashing down on the older warrior.

windclan is sent racing back to their camp without their leader, with crowpond trying to help his father limp back to their primary moor camp. in their absence, riverclan, shadowclan, and thunderclan move in.

many of the cats who rebelled with onewhisker are exiled, and they disperse into the other three clans.

a few days later, eagleflight pads into camp, shame and guilt smeared across her face. she pleads for her father's forgiveness, saying she didn't want to hurt or oppose him; she just wanted everyone to get along.

she enters mateship with nightcloud. two months later, breezekit is born. his eyes carry stars that shine like the tears of his forebearers.

four months later, on a border patrol, deadstar swears he sees stars in the eyes of lionpaw, jaypaw, and hollypaw. they sparkle like the tears of their ancestors lost in the great exile.

#warrior cats #ask #girltigerclaw #deadfoot shrine #deadstar AU #leave it to me to be irritatingly unorthodox and inventive #(it's called being cooler and awesomer and interestinger than everyone else) #in case you can't tell #crowpond and leafpool rivalry. are you team moonpond or team moonpool #also rejoice! leafpool falls in love with a woman (eagleflight) #but she's still kinda awful. hates responsibility and does not like being tied down #still sorta hopelessly in love with leafp and neglects her relationship with niclo and almost completely ignores breeze #she snaps at him when he begs for his momma's attention