#aka. i stitch all the random events the erins threw at windclan in tbc into a coherent plot with a THEME and everything

[pleckthaniel]

🏃‍♂️📚📕

Ok, surprising no one, the unwritten fic I think about the absolute most is about Breezepelt LMAO

It's basically like an exploration of how he negotiates his parent-child relationship with Crowfeather at the same time as raising his daughters, all set slightly before & during the events of TBC

This is one that I've actually outlined and may or may not write someday, so... the rest of this is gonna be under a cut lol

So basically it would start out before the events of TBC, when Applekit & Woodkit are still in the nursery and Brindlewing & Smokehaze are very new warriors. Applekit is very sickly and requires a lot of her parents' attention just because of her health issues, so Brindlewing and Smokehaze both help pick up the slack in taking care of Woodkit. This has fallen more to Brindlewing though, as Smokehaze has kind of grown apart from her parents and is clearly seeking independence from them. Instead, she's very close with Crowfeather. Breezepelt has a hard time with this because he feels like his daughter is kind of inscrutable to him in the same way as his father is, and he doesn't understand why Crowfeather is able to connect with her in a way he and Breezepelt simply never have. (While they are reconciled, their relationship is still kind of... tense? they have good days and bad days.) Finally, Breeze has also been continuously struggling with his memories of the Dark Forest, though he deals with it by pouring himself into taking care of his family.

As time passes, we would also get into Heathertail a little bit. Her relationship with Smokehaze is also pretty tense, arguably worse than Breezepelt's. She's also very openly critical of her brother, Harestar, who she feels is still trying to impress their father with his leadership rather than make his own decisions. She and Harestar get into a minor argument when he says she would have made a good deputy, as Heathertail is very defensive of her life choices and extremely avoidant of any outcome that would put her on the same path as Onestar.

Eventually Applepaw & Woodpaw are apprenticed, and Applepaw is a huge troublemaker. Harestar, thinking that Brindlewing is being light on her since they're sisters, asks Breezepelt & Heathertail to talk to both mentor and apprentice and try to help things out. However, Heather & Breeze get into a small argument because Heathertail is very forgiving of Applepaw and wants to be very light on her, whereas Breezepelt, recognizing in her his own shithead teen behavior, is more frustrated and thinks she needs stricter guidance.

The Clans decide to smash the Moonpool, Breezepelt and Crowfeather are both sent to go to this. Breezepelt, despite his loyalty to WindClan, never really got over his own rebellious streak and tendency to resent authority, and he wonders if the Clans even really need StarClan back. He tries to express this to Crowfeather, who comes down hard on him, accusing him of being still aligned with the Dark Forest. Breezepelt, while understanding why he got this reaction, is still kind of bitter that his own father isn't willing to meet him halfway and wonders why things always have to be so hard with Crowfeather.

Later, WindClan gets the news that Bramblestar is dead. Most of them are interested in talking about the political implications this will have, but Crowfeather is disengaged and soon leaves. Breezepelt, remembering Crowfeather and Bramblestar were old friends, follows him and tries to offer him comfort, but Crowfeather rejects this.

Breezepelt and Heathertail both attend the Gathering, and surprisingly Bramblestar is in fact alive. They both strongly dislike his new behavior, and stop to discuss this before leaving the Island. Breezepelt in particular is strongly reminded of the Dark Forest. Stemleaf or Spotfur, overhearing them talking, invite them to the secret rebel meeting.

They go home and talk over their options, both of them feel like they should do something but they also aren't young anymore, they need to stay safe so they can be there for their children. Breezepelt thinks that since Harestar seems to be on Bramblestar's side, attending the meeting will be seen as treachery. He thinks it will be much easier to convince Harestar that he alone reverted to his traitorous ways than to convince him that Heathertail betrayed the Clan without Breezepelt's influence. In other words, if they are caught, Breezepelt will be punished no matter what, so he wants Heather to be completely uninvolved so if necessary she can be there for the kits. Obviously Heather is not enthusiastic about this plan but she agrees on the condition Breezepelt tell her everything that happens.

He goes to the meeting. The whole thing reminds him of the Dark Forest on both sides - sneaking out, doing things 'for the good of the Clan' without their knowledge, Bramblestar's controlling behavior and his unnerving resemblance to Tigerstar, all of it. This rattles him. In the meeting, he argues that they should just kill Bramblestar because he's too dangerous to live.

Back home, Squirrelflight comes to tell Harestar that Bramblestar is an imposter. Afterwards, Heather & Breeze talk to their kids about this. To their surprise, Smokehaze is on Harestar & Bramblestar's side and seems kind of pissed that Squirrelflight would make such an accusation. Applepaw takes the opposite tack, seemingly just to annoy her sister. Heathertail tries to turn this into a teachable moment, asking her daughters if Bramblestar should really have the authority of a leader right now. But, Smokehaze gets pissed and leaves, and Brindlewing promises to talk to her.

Another Gathering happens and Harestar is convinced to exile Crowfeather. Nightcloud and Breezepelt, both in attendance, stand up for him, but Crowfeather decides to be self-sacrificial and leave anyway 'for the good of his Clan.' Nightcloud is openly pissed about this and Breezepelt can't help but be annoyed too. He draws a parallel between Crowfeather leaving a Clan that clearly needs him to "protect" it from the imposter, and Crowfeather ignoring a son that clearly needed him to "protect" him from Crowfeather himself. Breezepelt is starting to feel like he and Crowfeather are back at square one.

A little while later, Heathertail comes home from a ThunderClan border patrol with a message from Spotfur. Spotfur got in contact with them to tell them about the next rebel meeting, but also to tell Breezepelt that Crowfeather is in the refugee camp in ShadowClan territory and specifically asked for him to come. Heather & Breeze discuss whether Breeze will actually go. He's kind of against it, still feeling shitty about his and Crowfeather's relationship, but Heathertail eventually convinces him.

Breezepelt goes early to the meeting so he can talk to Crowfeather. Crow is not very affectionate but instead wants to start out talking about politics & the Bramblestar situation, and then gets into complaining about conditions in the refugee camp and the way Squirrelflight, Jayfeather and Lionblaze have been treating him in this co-habitation situation. (They've been all working together to torment and prank him.) Breezepelt is very annoyed by all of this at first, but quickly realizes that Crowfeather is very lonely in the refugee camp and having a difficult time expressing it. He thinks that Crowfeather even asking for him specifically to visit was probably really hard for him. With a sudden new empathy for his father, Breezepelt is supportive, taking his side in his complaints and telling him about how his daughters miss Crowfeather. Breezepelt isn't even really on Crowfeather's side or interested in his grouchiness but he finds that cheering Crowfeather up is important enough to him that it doesn't matter.

The big battle between all the Clans comes and Harestar calls Breezepelt and Smokehaze up to fight, and Breezepelt tries to explain the whole situation to Smokehaze. He knows that he's going to turn on WindClan once the fighting starts and doesn't want to have to fight her. However to his surprise Smokehaze disagrees with his assessment of the situation and he wonders if he's done something wrong as a father. For once, Smokehaze reminds him not of Crowfeather, but of himself, in the worst way.

During the battle, he and Crowfeather both fight for the rebels, working in surprising synchronicity. Breezepelt tries to stop a rebel who goes after Smokehaze, but they turn on him instead. With rising horror, Breezepelt realizes this battle is quickly devolving into a vicious every-man-for-himself situation. He tries to go after Smokehaze to protect her, but before he can make his way to her, Harestar loses a life, stopping the fighting. Crowfeather rushes to Harestar, but Breezepelt continues to look for Smokehaze, and eventually finds her, dying. They have a moment, Breeze is fucking destroyed when she dies.

After the battle, Crowfeather helps him carry the body home. Breezepelt is almost angry about this at first, mad that Crowfeather went to Harestar instead of her, until he realizes that Crow didn't even know Smokehaze was in danger. He realizes he's really blaming himself for not protecting her like he feels he should have.

They go home and break the news to the rest of the family, who are largely inconsolable, but Woodpaw seems to be handling things suspiciously well.

At the vigil, Heathertail & Harestar get into a huge fight. She accuses him, again, of being so obsessed with impressing their dead father that he has neglected to actually keep WindClan's best interests in mind. She also blames him for Smokehaze's death. Harestar backs down and agrees to reinstate Crowfeather as deputy.

A few days later, Breezepelt checks in with Woodpaw. She finally breaks down completely, telling him all about not only her grief for Smokehaze but how lonely she has felt and how she feels like a disfavored child compared to Applepaw. Breezepelt tries to make her feel better, but nothing works. He has never told his daughters in much detail why his relationship with Crowfeather is strained, but he tells Woodpaw now, explaining he never wants her to feel what he felt as a kid and that he really is there for her. Woodpaw is comforted by this. Breezepelt then realizes Crowfeather was listening to him talk, but Crow does not confront him or seem hurt, rather just accepting of the facts of their past. Breezepelt knows that their relationship will probably never be perfect, but the chance at an okay relationship with Crowfeather is still worth sticking around for. He thinks about how Smokehaze knew this better than him and commits to trying harder with Crowfeather from then on, in honor of her.

#aka. i stitch all the random events the erins threw at windclan in tbc into a coherent plot with a THEME and everything #wc #breezepelt #crowfeather #smokehaze #heathertail #scout talks #scout.txt #ish? #silver linings