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clangenrising · 30 days

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Month 13 - Newleaf

Slatekit was worried about Fogkit. Since the day of the funeral, her sister only left the den once or twice a day for sanitary breaks and stayed in her nest most of the time, staring at the wall. Slatekit had started bringing her meals for fear she would starve if she didn’t. Fogkit said “thanks” and picked at the meal and usually turned away halfway through, saying “I’m not that hungry.” Slatekit had tried to convince her to finish once and she had whipped around with a “I said I’m not that hungry, okay?!” and a burning glare. Slatekit hadn’t pushed her after that.

Instead, she had tried to find ways to busy herself around camp. Sitting in the den with Fogkit and no one else, the den seemed to loom darkly around her, threatening to swallow her whole. She didn’t want to stay there anymore. She didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts and Fogkit’s periodic sighs.

So she’d taken to helping with the chores around camp - checking the prey pile for crowfood, fixing up the nests and carrying away the used bedding, that sort of thing. She’d even asked Oddstripe if he had any jobs he needed help with and he’d taught her how to search for ticks and fleas. It was a bit early in the season but he had her check some of the warriors, just in case. Thankfully, she found nothing.

She liked helping. It made her feel like she was like her mama and it made the other thoughts quiet down for a while. She couldn’t stop worrying about Fogkit though. It seemed like other cats were worried too which did nothing to reassure her own worries. They tried not to talk about their worries around her, though. She didn’t know how she felt about that.

One day, while Slatekit was plucking feathers from the prey pile to put in peoples’ nests, Goldenstar approached her with a cat she’d never seen before. The stranger was a pretty, tortoiseshell she-cat, all speckles and spots. She smelled very different from the kittypet in camp, like greenery and rotting undergrowth. She smiled as she saw Slatekit and Slatekit couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hey, Slatekit,” Goldenstar said brightly, “I wanted to introduce you to someone. This is Poppybird, FallenClan’s mediator.”

“Hi,” said Slatekit shyly.

“Hello, Slatekit,” purred Poppybird, her voice warm and smooth. “What are you doing?”

“I’m helping pick out feathers for everyone’s bedding,” she said.

“That’s very kind of you,” said Poppybird. Slatekit smiled, puffing up with a little pride.

Goldenstar was smiling too. “Poppybird was a friend of your mom’s and she wanted to come spend the day with you and Fogkit.”

“Really?” Slatekit’s eyes widened. She really wanted to spend time with them? She’d never even met them.

“Mhm,” nodded Poppybird. “I thought maybe we could go on a little adventure together.”

“O-okay,” Slatekit said, standing from her work, “but, um, Fogkit might not want to come. She’s been grumpy lately.”

“She has?” Poppybird asked. “How so?”

“Um…” Slatekit glanced over at the nursery where she knew Fogkit was probably sleeping or staring at the wall. “Well she doesn’t like to get out of her nest anymore. And she bit me.”

“She bit you?” Poppybird’s face softened sympathetically. “Do you know why?”

“Um… She said that the effigy was stupid and then started ruining the flowers so I tried to push her away and then she bit me. It really hurt.” She gave a few licks to the paw that had been bitten as she thought about it.

“That must have been really upsetting,” said Poppybird gently. Slatekit nodded. “I’m sorry that Fogkit’s grieving hurt you, Slatekit.”

“It’s alright,” Slatekit mumbled, looking down. “I still love her anyway.”

“That’s good,” smiled Poppybird. “She’s lucky to have such a loving sister.” Slatekit blushed, shuffling her paws. She didn’t know what to say to that but it made her feel fuzzy inside.

“Why don’t you guys go get Fogkit,” Goldenstar said. “I’ll make sure these feathers get where they’re going.”

“Okay,” Slatekit nodded.

“Walk with me, won’t you?” Poppybird invited, stretching her tail out to her. Slatekit nodded and curled her tail with the mediator’s and started towards the nursery. She stopped in the entrance though, a sudden hesitance seeping into her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Fogkit was curled in the corner of the nest, staring at the wall with a bored and weary expression. Slatekit was grateful that Poppybird stepped up to talk first.

“Fogkit?”

Fogkit sat up, frowning, and squinted at them. “Who are you?” She sounded angry. Slatekit’s tail fell to the ground.

“My name is Poppybird,” the adult seemed unphased, her voice still warm and gentle. “I was a friend of your mother’s.”

“So?” said Fogkit.

“With Goldenstar’s permission, I wanted to take you both out on a little adventure today, have some fun together. I was thinking we could go down to the river, what do you think?” Slatekit held her breath hoping her sister said yes. Going to the river sounded like a really fun adventure and she didn’t want to go alone.

Fogkit shifted in the nest. “I dunno…”

“You don’t have to come,” Poppybird said, “but I’m going and if Slatekit wants to go she’s welcome to come. You can even come along and then, if you decide you’re done, you can come right back.” She took a step back to leave the den entrance wide open. Fogkit pulled her paws underneath her, hips shifting like she was about to start hunting. Her brows were still pinched together angrily but there was something else in her expression, something that said ‘wait for me!’

“Okay,” Fogkit said after a moment of chewing on the thought. She stood up and padded towards them slowly. Slatekit smiled despite the worry that Fogkit’s slightly matted, ungroomed fur was stirring in her. Poppybird seemed to have no reaction to the kit’s disheveled appearance.

“Do you need to eat or anything before we go?” asked the mediator, watching them as Fogkit stepped out into the daylight, squinting harshly in the afternoon light.

“No,” said Fogkit, “I’m not hungry.”

“Okay,” smiled Poppybird. “Then there’s only one thing we have to do before we go. Goldenstar said we have to take someone with us to keep us safe. Who do you think we should bring?”

“Ospreymask is nice,” Slatekit said.

“No,” Fogkit said immediately. “Not Ospreymask.”

“Why not?” Slatekit asked, ears pressed back.

“Cause!” Fogkit hissed. She dropped her gaze, pouting at the dirt. “I don’t like her anymore.” Slatekit frowned in despair. Why? What had Ospreymask done? She was afraid too ask.

“That’s alright,” Poppybird said gently, laying her tail over Slatekit’s back. “Who do you think would be fun to bring along, Fogkit?”

Fogkit chewed her cheek for a moment before she said, “Floodpaw.” Slatekit was baffled by that. Floodpaw hated them! Or at least, he hated hanging out with them. She didn’t want to say anything though, in case Fogkit got angry again.

Poppybird asked, “Does that sound okay to you, Slatekit?” Slatekit wasn’t sure. She shuffled her paws and shrugged. “You don’t know?” She nodded. “Is there any reason why bringing Floodpaw would be bad?” Slatekit considered it. Probably not, especially with Poppybird there.

“I guess not.”

“Okay, would it be alright if we invited him then?” Poppybird’s smile set her at ease.

“Yeah, okay,” she nodded again.

“Great,” said Poppybird.

A few moments later, they were heading out of camp, Floodpaw following behind them begrudgingly. Slatekit still didn’t understand why Fogkit had invited him but at least it seemed like he wasn’t going to say anything mean to them. As they ventured out into the grass, Slatekit remembered their snake encounter with a little gasp.

“Oh! Um, it’s good that we brought Floodpaw with us,” she said.

“Why’s that?” Poppybird tilted her head with interest.

“Cause,” started Slatekit, “cause, um, last time-”

“Last time we saw a snake,” Fogkit blurted. Slatekit nodded.

“Wow!” Poppybird gasped, “What happened?” Floodpaw rolled his eyes.

“Bar- um, Barleypaw killed it,” Slatekit said excitedly.

“Yeah, she smacked it until it died,” Fogkit whispered conspiratorially.

“That must have been very exciting,” marveled Poppybird.

“Yeah,” said Fogkit, sounding tired again. “I never got to tell mom the snake story.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Poppybird said, her voice soft. “I bet she would have liked it.”

“Oh, yeah?” Fogkit glared up at her. “How would you know?” Slatekit held her breath as best she could while walking. Please don’t start yelling, please don’t start yelling. She didn’t want Fogkit to get held back from becoming an apprentice. She didn’t want to have her ceremony all alone!

Poppybird didn’t seem to react at all. “I did the same job as your mother and we talked often. She was a friend of mine.”

“She never mentioned you,” Fogkit huffed boldly.

“She mentioned you,” said Poppybird.

“Really?” Fogkit blinked in surprise.

“Mhm,” nodded Poppybird. “She was so proud of you two. She told me all about your stories and adventures. I’m really glad I finally got to meet you.”

“Me too,” Slatekit said. Knowing one of her mama’s friends made her feel all light and cozy. Fogkit frowned and looked down at the ground.

They walked for what felt like a really long time. Poppybird told them the stories she’d heard about them and answered their questions about FallenClan - it was in a deep forest and the camp was surrounded by brambles and they ate mostly the same stuff but not rabbits and sometimes frogs and there were two kits named Lionkit and Wishkit and they weren’t related - and by the time they reached the river, Fogkit seemed to be mostly back to normal. She was a little quieter than usual and her fur was still matted and dirty but she was smiling and asking questions and Slatekit couldn’t help but follow suit.

“Look at it!” Fogkit cried at the sight of the river. It stretched out before them, at least three fox-lengths across, shining in the sunlight as it rushed noisily over the stones of the riverbed. Slatekit gasped excitedly.

“Okay,” said Poppybird, “There’s a few rules to keep us safe that you need to know. Never go deeper than your belly and be careful where you put your paws to make sure you don’t slip. Got it?”

“Got it!” the girls chorused brightly. Floodpaw sighed and sat down, looking away.

Poppybird looked at him and said, “Feel free to have some fun too, Floodpaw. Do whatever you want to do, all I need is for you to be ready if something dangerous happens.”

“Really?” he perked his ears a little.

“Really,” she nodded with a smile and he brightened significantly. Back on his paws, he started down towards the river.

Fogkit took off running, shouting, “I bet I can beat you there, Floodpaw!”

“Huh?” he paused out of surprise then frowned as he realized she was nearing the water pretty quickly. “No way!” Taking off across the pebbles, he sprinted after her. Thanks to his long legs, he made it into the shallows a good body-length ahead of her and she cried out in disappointment.

“No fair! You’ve got longer legs!”

“You’re the one who started the bet!” he laughed, splashing her with a pawful of water. Fogkit shrieked and puffed up to twice her size, tumbling back.

“It’s cold!” she cried.

“It’s not that cold,” Floodpaw rolled his eyes and lowered himself down to crouch in the shallow water so that it came up to his shoulders.

“He’s in too deep!” Slatekit cried but Poppybird shook her head.

“No, he’s alright. As long as you can stand up and it only touches your belly, you’re not too deep.”

“Oh, okay,” Slatekit relaxed. She ventured up to the edge of the water cautiously. Fogkit was playing with her reflection in the water while Floodpaw stretched himself out on his belly until his head was the only thing above the water. Slatekit carefully stepped into the water then reeled back with a squeak of discomfort.

“Ah!” she cried, “I don’t like it!”

“That’s okay,” said Poppybird, coming up behind them. “You don’t have to touch it.”

“I wanna swim like Floodpaw!” Fogkit declared. He snorted to himself.

“Okay,” Poppybird said, “just remember the rules. Floodpaw, do make sure she doesn’t drown, yes?”

“Yeah, of course,” he said, twitching his ear against the river bugs starting to cloud near his face.

Satisfied, Poppybird twined her tail with Slatekit’s and said, “There are lots of interesting bugs by the river. Why don’t we walk down the bank and look for some?”

“O-okay,” Slatekit nodded. They padded off down the river, leaving the splash radius just in time for Fogkit to leap straight onto Floodpaw’s back, sending water flying in all directions.

“Hey!” he snapped, and Slatekit glanced back worriedly. He reached up and shoved Fogkit into the river face first.

Slatekit’s stomach flipped in fright and she stopped in her tracks, but then Fogkit burst out of the water squealing in delight and cried, “Again!” so she tried to relax a little.

“She’s alright,” Poppybird said.

“I know,” Slatekit said, convincing herself as she said it. “I just don’t like to play rough like that.” She started walking again, eyes searching the pebbled shore for the bugs that had been mentioned.

“That’s okay,” Poppybird said. “Everyone is different. Some people don’t like to play rough and some people do and that is completely fine as long as they show consideration for how the other person wants to play.”

“Yeah,” Slatekit nodded. She liked how Poppybird talked. It reminded her of her mama.

“Fogkit and you are pretty different, huh?” asked Poppybird.

“Yeah.”

“Can you tell me some ways you’re different?”

Slatekit hummed thoughtfully. “She’s loud but I’m just quiet.”

“Oh, yes,” Poppybird smiled. “I bet it’s nice to have someone loud to help you when you’re quiet.”

“Yeah,” nodded Slatekit again. “She says the stuff I don’t wanna say. Although sometimes she says mean stuff too.”

“Like with the effigy?”

“Mhm.” Slatekit frowned a little and paused to roll some stones out of place to look underneath them.

“What kind of stuff did she say?”

Slatekit’s voice was very soft when she spoke. “That it was stupid ‘cause it was just wood… And that it was, um, bee-brained to pretend it was mama. Oddstripe said pretending helps you feel better but Fogkit said that was dumb.”

“Mm,” Poppybird hummed in understanding. “How did that make you feel?”

“Sad…” said Slatekit. “I liked the effigy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it made me feel less lonely about it.” She rolled one of the rounder pebbles under her paw, back and forth. The smooth texture was nice on her paw pad.

Poppybird smiled. “I’m glad that it did. It can be really lonely to lose someone you love. It’s good to find things that make you feel less lonely.”

“But Fogkit hated it,” Slatekit said. “I don’t understand why she was so angry.”

“You and Fogkit are very different,” restated Poppybird. “When she gets lonely because she misses your mother, it makes her angry. I haven’t spoken to her yet but I know other cats who are the same and it can be really hard not to get angry when they get that sad.”

“Why though?” Slatekit looked up at her. “I don’t get angry, I just get sad.”

“It might be because it feels unfair,” said Poppybird, “or because being angry feels less powerless than just being sad. But sometimes there isn’t a reason. You can’t control the way you feel and sometimes being sad makes people angry, that’s that.”

Slatekit hummed and rolled the pebble under her paw. She looked back over her shoulder at her sister who was cackling between gulps of air as Floodpaw repeatedly shoved her head under the water, smiling madly. She didn’t understand Fogkit at all. But Fogkit was happy and that was good.

She looked up at Poppybird again and asked, “What do I do if she gets sad again? She spent a long time in the den not talking to anybody. It’s scary, honestly.”

“Just have patience,” Poppybird smiled. “She’ll feel better eventually. All you have to do is wait and keep showing her you love her. If you can, it wouldn’t hurt if you could get her to come out and play with you sometimes. It’s good for her to get some sun and move her body.”

“Okay,” Slatekit said determinedly. “I can do that.”

“That’s great,” Poppybird said.

After that, they went bug hunting in earnest. They found a worm but nothing else of note and Poppybird explained that it was probably too early for bugs like damselflies. Slatekit carried the worm back to a drenched Fogkit and they both took the worm in their mouths from either end and tore it in half, Fogkit cheering when she came away with the bigger half. Slatekit was just glad to see her sister smiling again.

They all laid down on the bank to sun themselves until Fogkit and Floodpaw were dry and then they went home. Poppybird stayed for dinner and, afterwards, Slatekit went to play with Ospreymask so Poppybird and Fogkit could talk by themselves. When it was finally time to settle down, long after dark, Slatekit made sure to tell Poppybird goodnight before she and Fogkit went to bed.

“Today was fun,” Fogkit said as they shared tongues in their nest.

“Yeah!” purred Slatekit. “I’m glad you came to the river with us.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Fogkit. “I wish you wanted to swim though.”

“Maybe next time,” Slatekit said, although she very much doubted that.

“When we’re apprentices, we’ll go swimming whenever we want!” Fogkit said. Slatekit grinned and bumped her head against Fogkit’s as the purr overtook her.

“I love you, Fogkit,” she said.

“I love you too,” said Fogkit and Slatekit felt the happiest she had in weeks.

#clan gen #clangen #warrior cats #warriors #warrior cats oc #warriors oc #clangen oc #clan gen oc #Clangenrising #Slatekit #Fogkit #Goldenstar #Poppybird #Floodpaw #Lionkit #Wishkit #Newleaf #mediator

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fleetclan · 5 months

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MOON 16 OF FLEETCLAN

BABIES <3

they mean the world to me

extra:

Dappledshadow, feeling much better from her heat exhaustion, talks with Fadedfern. Though he seems to be behaving strangely, she's still impressed by his knowledge. Later she learns he was acting off due to trying to figure out how to get some more time to spend with her.

Ebonystar isn't fond of how Dappledshadow overwhelms the entire camp with her presence.

While on patrol, Fadedfern gets scared by a wolf and makes a run for it; Daypaw nervously follows, not wanting to lose track and be left alone.

#fleetclan #fleetclan updates #clangen art #warrior cats #clangen ocs #clan generator #clangen #Auburnfang #Ebonystar #Scorchtuft #Kitekit #Willowkit #Wishkit #Seedkit

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eggfeather · 7 months

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wishkit and hopekit

#wishkit #hopekit #kits #shadowclan #starclan #warriors #warrior cats

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esoteric-terror · 7 months

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au where wishkit and hopekit are reincarnated as squirrelflight and leafpool and yellowfang is their guardian angel

#squirrelflight #wishkit #leafpool #hopekit #yellowfang #warrior cats #warriors au #wc #au #rea art

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animatewarriorcats · 1 year

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Hopekit and Wishkit! The ill fated children of Yellowfang and Raggedstar. Listen I know the genetics of the colors I chose super don't work with their parents, but also the canon descriptions of these two already don't work genetically, with ginger coming from nowhere for both of them. I also acknowledge that i drew them older than they would ever have been, but i wanted to be able to communicate their pattern which is hard to do on a full potato kitten. I like to think they were just as sassy as their parents, had they lived, and possibly kept Brokenkit grounded instead of him becoming an edgelord.

#Hopekit #Wishkit #Shadowclan #starclan #warriors #warrior cats #warriorcat designs #warriors designs #warrior cats designs #warrior designs

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skyscratch-wc · 7 months

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Family tree for one of Shadowclan’s most important families. I realized while drawing this that every Shadowclan leader from Raggedstar forward (except for Nightstar and Tigerstar 1) can be connected to this family

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marmosetpaw · 1 year

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#warrior cats #wc designs #hopekit #wishkit #shadowclan #starclan #kit #yellowfang's secret

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theanoninyourinbox · 10 months

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I’m a long time lurker (adore your art, and adore your ability to expand on glorious ideas), so!!

May I offer my “Redtail and Spottedleaf are Wishkit and Hopekit” au to place into your amazing hands? 👀

I've seen you lurking for a while, glad you came up with such a good idea! These hands went to work! Gave you Bonus AU - What if Medicine Cat Brokentail?

So a heavily pregnant Swiftbreeze begs to go for one more walk before she gives birth. Adderfang goes with her, because he loves him wife, and the pair find themselves on the Shadowclan Border when the contractions hit. Adderfang has been studying with Featherwhisker (and Goosefeather if he was still around) for this very occurrence, because Swiftbreeze loves to be moving All The Time, and Willowkit is born healthy. The two are Gazing at the kitten when a hoarse cry comes from nearby. Adderfang goes to investigate, and finds a gray molly, one with a similar build and face, desperately licking her three kits. Adderfang wastes no time, calling to Swiftbreeze what's happening, and bolts in to help. The molly hisses, but is far too weak to put up a fight. She relaxes when he starts licking them as well - the brown tom is doing well, but the pair of torties are shivering cold. When Adderfang looks towards the queen, she's vanished - and a stunned Adderfang brings the kits to Swiftbreeze, who immediately begins to clean and nurse the kittens.

(they wonder who the queen was, and how she snuck onto Shadowclan territory. Swiftbreeze suggests that she must have heard of the Clans taking in kits or pregnant queens. Eventually Adderfang spies Yellowfang at a gathering and goes OH. Ohhhhh boy. Oh Starclan.)

The pair come back to Thunderclan and Featherwhisker is somewhat confused by the amount of kits but nice job you two, no work for me! Patchpelt and Leopardfoot are dazzled - lil babies! We love them! Swiftbreeze had already named Willowkit, so Adderfang names Redkit, Leopardfoot names Spottedkit, and Patchpelt names Brackenkit. The family grows up well loved and cherished. Brackenkit spends hours in the medicine den, listening to Featherwhisker talk and learning herbs. He practically BEGS to be a medicine cat, and Featherwhisker agrees heartily. Spottedpaw learns so much from Thrushpelt that she's named after him, and when Thistleclaw tries to spend time alone with her, Thrushpelt nearly claws Thistle's ears off, leading to his banishment. Redpaw makes close friends with Tigerclaw, pulling him back to a clan that does appreciate him. Willowpaw falls for a Riverclan warrior apprentice, and Willowpelt has Darkkit, who has little webbed paws and a gaggle of adoring aunts and uncles. Eventually Spottedpelt mentors the Kittypet Rusty.

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laserkatz · 21 days

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Yellowfang's family

#warrior cats #wc #wc designs #family #family tree #wc family tree #silverflame #brightflower #rowanberry #marigoldkit #mintkit #nutwhisker #yellowfang #raggedstar #brokenstar #wishkit #hopekit #cat #ALL SHAPED AROUND!!!!

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junoswarriorcatsdesigns · 4 months

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Hopekit & Wishkit

#Hopekit #Wishkit #Kit #Shadowclan #Yellowfang's Secret #Yellowfang/Raggedstar's kits

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hexxo707 · 1 year

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#wishkit #hopekit #warrior cats #warriors designs #shadowclan #yellowfang's secret #sleepy kittens #kits

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morningmask27 · 1 year

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say no more bestie, I’m a professional at Brokenstar AUs

Alrighty, so. Yellowfang has her kits (they all survive) and she gets a sign from StarClan that her kits will lead to the destruction of clans. She’s like, the fuck no and takes all her kits to the twolegplace where she gets adopted by a loving twoleg couple. Yellow gets the name Marguerite, her kits become Mary(Wish), Pippy(Hope) and Mustache(Brokey). They live a relaxing life in twolegplace.

In ShadowClan however things aren’t as nice as they should be. Raggedpelt discovers that Yellowfang bailed and is pissed. He takes out all his frustration on Sagewhisker, leading to her death. ShadowClan now has no healer and has to quicktrain Runningkit to become a semi decent healer at least. This happens while Ragged still has his reign of terror being a fucking bitch to everyone.

Ragged also gets with Foxheart for no actual reason and has one child with her. that child becomes Buzzardswipe and is raised to become Raggedstar’s heir. Buzzard is a little daddy’s kid and weak-willed.

In twolegplace Marguerite and her kits live a good life, but Mustache is too much of a threat and the twolegs can’t train the destruction habits out of it, so eventually they just dump the kit off close to the barn. Mary and Pippy are PISSED about that (Marguerite too, but M&P especially). They head out to find their littermate again, but they can’t find their sibling anywhere in twolegplace. They are angry at their owners for having kicked Mustache out and want only to have their family be reunited.

Mustache is left alone near the barn and just wanders around. It gets close to the WindClan border once and meets Hawkheart and Barkface when the two are gathering herbs once. The two healers are very scared of Mustache because of its size and general vibe, but they discover that this beast is kit-aged and lost. They decide to let the kit join Windclan and name it Owlkit. Hawk and Bark have a sign that Owlkit is destined to become a healer, Hawk isn’t too pleased, but relents and Owlpaw gets to train as a healer. (the sign was an owl seemingly grabbing the moon and dropping it in front of the two healers).

Anyways, Owlpaw has a decently normal apprentice hood up until Raggedpelt gains the title of Star. This is actually a lie, Owlpaw is very naturally curious, but for the bad things and discovers multiple potent poisonous mixes by experimenting on rabbits. This had led to Hawkheart banishing Owlpaw from gathering herbs alone because something bad always ends up happening.

Hawkheart also tries to guide Owlpaw's more aggressive feelings into less destructive things, like going to beat up a bush when it is feeling particularly angry. And don't believe that Hawkheart is growing as a person while doing so, their anger management adventures are more akin to "yeah, the murder rage, we've all been there, sadly you can't kill someone because of that so go beat up that bush instead and now get the fuck out of my den"

Raggedstar is a pissy little bitch and wants to fight the other Clans because he hates them and wants to prove that ShadowClan is strong. Ragged wants to show off ShadowClan's strength and begins being way more hostile to the other Clans. This leads to many skirmishes with WindClan, so Owlpaw gets to see how full of shit ShadowClan is.

These skirmishes eventually grow into full-fledged raids on WindClan, but that happens a bit later, when Owlpaw already got its full name: Owlstrike. But yeah, the raids on WindClan are very unpleasant and Owl doesn't like them, like the rest of its clan. It does manage to scare ShadowClanners away by virtue of how scary it looks, but the raids still happen.

One particular raid ends up in the death of Hawkheart. Owl sees red because of this and swears vengeance. Its only goal in life now is to end the raids and Raggedstar for good. To do so it corners Runningnose during a halfmoon meeting to know if there would be a way to stop Raggedstar from launching all those raids. Runningnose says there aren't, so Owl sees there's one: kill Raggedstar.

Owlstrike does some snooping around in ShadowClan territory and randomly finds Raggedstar’s only child: Buzzardswipe. Owl intimidates Buzzard to know if they could convince their dad to quit doing the raids on WindClan. Buzzard pleads with Owl, saying that they can’t get close to their dad anymore because Blizzardwing, Raggedstar’s deputy, does everything to keep them away from him.

Owl now has a new plan: kill Blizzardwing to get at least one of the nuisances out of the picture. And it does just that during the next raid on WindClan. It's not hard to kill a deputy apparently. Now Buzzard got the deputy position, and a dazzling new apprentice at that! Everyone, say hello to Dawnpaw, our new and beloved little fiesty punk of an apprentice. She's stubborn and has been raised in a very "ShadowClan good the rest sucks" mentality. She has a particular dislike of WindClan and especially Owlstrike for killing her dad, Blizzardwing.

Anyways, everything is fiiiiine obviously. Owlstrike continues intimidating Buzzard into letting it know valuable information about ShadowClan and now gets to push them to get Raggedstar off WindClan's back constantly. Raids still happen, but far less often and way less violent. Dawnpaw does see that her mentor sometimes leaves camp all alone during the day while most patrols are very busy and she's stuck taking care of the elders. And she sees that they always come back even more nervous than they usually are and quickly go to see Raggedstar.

Time for a total scene change! In ThunderClan Fireheart lives his normal life. He's suspicious of Tigerclaw and goes on patrol. He doesn't have an apprentice, but he does have some fun with Graystripe and Ravenflight. Lionheart is a source of inspiration for the guy and he often goes to Spottedleaf when he gets hurt by his little shenanigans. Because yeah, Spottedleaf and Lionheart didn't die since ShadowClan didn't launch that particular raid coincidentally and Clawface had no reason to steal ThunderClan kits.

Tigerclaw doesn't like the fact that he's still not deputy and seems to never have a moment to fucking kill Lionheart in peace, so he decided it'd probably be useful to get help from another clan to get the power in ThunderClan. Tiger thus decides to pay a little visit to ShadowClan to see if they would want to help and low and behold, who does he find? Buzzardswipe, obviously! Tiger believes it's a risky bet, but tells Buzzard that ThunderClan is planning an attack on ShadowClan and tells Buzzard to inform Raggedstar. Buzzardswipe is very uncomfortable with Tigerclaw telling them these bits of information, but can't really do a lot since they are too malleable for their own good. So now Buzzard has Two dark brown tabbies with an attitude and an Agenda to deal with.

Tiger and Buzzard have one other meeting a bit later, but this one is cut short by Owlstrike showing up. Owl is very unhappy to see that its victim deputy is being victimized by another dark brown tabby and scares Tigerclaw off. Buzzard and Owl are now alone, but not for long because a patrol consisting of Raggedstar, Dawnpaw and another rando show up. Dawn had secretly followed Buzzard finally and had seen their meeting with Tiger that was then cut short by a visit from Owl, the cat she hates the most. She ran off to get Raggedstar and there they are!

Owl does manage to escape, but he gets a fatal blow on Raggedstar first, taking one of his lives for good measure. Dawnpaw follows Owl right up until the WindClan border where she yells a few insults at it. She plans to leave when a WindClan patrol sees her and goes to ask her wtf she's doing. She tells them in great detail how their beloved healer was conspiring with ShadowClan's deputy. The patrol is shocked at the news and tells it to Tallstar, who isn't happy. Tall asks Owlstrike what it has to say for its defense and Owl explains what it had been doing, but the Clan doesn't believe him. It gets exiled from WindClan pronto.

Owl is pissed at that and wants revenge, but decides to first beat up ShadowClan before going for WindClan. Owl now has a way easier time accessing Buzzardswipe for visits since it doesn't have to be ultra careful to hide its scent and bring back herbs every time it goes out to cover its tracks.

Anyways, Tigerclaw was chased off once, but that only encouraged him to go for more. He pays Raggedstar himself a visit with the declaration that he had very important information. That info being about the supposed attack ThunderClan was preparing. Raggedstar believes Tiger, but doesn't know why Tiger would be disloyal to TC. Tigerclaw answers that ThunderClan's leadership is weak and needs to be changed before he can be loyal again, subtly implying ShadowClan should kill Blue and Lion to let Tiger take over. Ragged takes the hint and prepares a raid on Thunder.

The raid happens and like planned Lionheart is killed. Tigerclaw obviously becomes deputy, but this still isn't enough for him. He goes back to Ragged to prepare the next step, but all this weird back and forth Tiger does makes Fire a bit suspicious of him, so one night he follows his deputy and sees him conversing with Raggedstar. On his way to escape before getting caught, he gets caught, but by Owlstrike. Fire would have been shitting his pants if he had any at the sight of the exiled WindClan healer.

Owl does realize that this puny orange thing is working against Tiger, so Owl makes a deal with Fireheart. Owl helps Fire take care of the Tiger problem, if Fire helps Owl finish Raggedstar and then get revenge on WindClan. Fire agrees, mostly because he has to and now the plan gets moving.

Fire learns when the next raid on ThunderClan will be because Owl still has its ways to get info out of Buzzardswipe. Fire warns ThunderClan just a bit before and the fight begins. Shit isn't too particular, but Fire does get attacked by a very cranky Dawncloud, who saw him with Owlstrike, she knows of his plans and is very dead set on killing Fireheart and then Owlstrike too. Fire does manage to shake her off with the help of a few other ThunderClanners. Then the Tiger vs Blue thing happens and like in canon Fire saves her. Tiger is banished, Fire becomes deputy without even having trained an apprentice.

Now Owl gets to claim its end of the bargain. Fire has to convince Blue to launch a revenge attack on ShadowClan. Owl also gives pointers to Fire on how to convince the bunch of rabbit feces WindClan to assist in the raid, by talking to the right cats and mentioning the right things. Now Fire has WindClan and ThunderClan (Blue wasn't going to attack, but she wasn't going to do anything tbh, so Fire just did whatever) ready to invade ShadowClan. The main plan that had been agreed on by Fire and Tall was to oust or kill Raggedstar for good. Buzzardswipe wouldn't be a good leader, but they'd be a weak leader and thus ShadowClan's problem and not WindClan's.

The attack happens as planned and Raggedstar loses a life before he and a few of his followers flee ShadowClan. Problem is, Buzzardswipe is one of them. Now ShadowClan has no leader, but good old Nightpelt steps up to get things at least moderately under control. Dawncloud isn't one of the cats that fled as she values being a part of ShadowClan too much, but she's very unhappy with Nightstar as a leader and gets the fabulous idea to spread the carrion sickness to ShadowClan to kill Nightstar. It goes a bit out of her control, but it's fine. Nightstar is dead and that's all that matters.

Now, while Dawn is doing her sickness shenanigans in ShadowClan, Raggedstar and Tigerclaw find each other in exile. They are angry at each other and want to kick each other's ass, but they get convinced to not do that by a worried Buzzardswipe who knows that Ragged is on his last life and would absolutely get beaten up by Tigerclaw. So the two cats decide to work together to get revenge on the clans. To do so though they'll need more cats. Lucky them, they heard about a group of cats in twolegplace that have some very strong members in them.

Tiger and Ragged send Buzzard to represent them when asking for help of the two leaders of that group. The two sisters aren't interested in fighting, but when they learn that Buzzard and their group were wrongfully ousted by evil cats (and the low payment of the forest lands next to twolegplace as a new territory for their group, which Ragged and Tiger did Not agree to) the sisters agree to help Buzzard and their band. They always see Buzzard as the leader of the group, much to the annoyance of the two actual brown tabby leaders.

Now the funny thing is that Nightstar's death happens a few days before Ragged, Tiger and the twolegplace group show up to beat up the Clans. They learn about ShadowClan's very weak position and decide to attack them first since it'd be an easy first thing.

So the attack happens and many cats are killed. Buzzard's group gets to lead that camp now while the (very few) surviving ShadowClanners either join Buzzard's group or flee to RiverClan mostly. Dawncloud is one of the cats that escapes. Next the group goes to eradicate WindClan for the crime of existing. This fight is even more brutal than the previous one, the amount of destruction that happens is immense and very fitting of a ShadowClan cat leading an attack on poor WindClan. The escapees all flee to ThunderClan for help. The next Clan on the chopping block is RiverClan, who literally has done nothing of importance in this AU, but still gets massacred like the other two. The poor ShadowClan sods that sought refuge in RiverClan were in for a bad time, but a few did survive and fled to ThunderClan with the RiverClan survivors.

Tiger was very happy about that next attack and led it himself. He was the first one in the camp and killed Bluestar himself. A whole lot of other cats died, but fortune seemed to be on ThunderClan side just a bit since Owlstrike was in camp at the time and it recognized the two leaders of the twolegplace group. Mary and Pippy also recognized their sibling and made their cats stop the attack. Their happy reunion wasn't long though since Dawncloud was still out for revenge (she had momentarily joined Buzzard's group for safety, but hated it). She jumped on Owlstrike's back and tried to kill it. All three siblings had to work together to get her to stop attacking, but she only really stopped when she saw Buzzard being hassled by a few clan cats. She ran to aid her old mentor and bright them to safety before trying to go back for Owl.

Owl had located Raggedstar while this was happening and decided to finish him just like he took Tallstar's last life for funnies. Owl launched itself onto Ragged, but Buzzard got in the way of the attack, taking the fatal hit and dying instantly. This made Ragged stop the attack immediately. (Tiger was also already dead, killed by good old Fireheart). He called the few cats that were still loyal to him and fled ThunderClan camp.

Dawncloud wasn't one of them and was actually even more angry at Owlstrike. She attacked him again, but this time Owl was fed up and simply killed her too. (Sorry for her ungraceful death, she was simply too powerful to be alive </3).

The surviving cats looked at the camp in abject horror and tried to think about what they'd do now. Very few cats had survived the bloodbath (about 20-25 or so) with only one leader (Fireheart) and one healer (Mudfur, who is obviously very old). The surviving cats decided to form one group together to try to survive. A few cats of the twolegplace group do decide to join the forest cats, one of them a certain Tiny, that liked the idea even as a kit. Owl, tho did Not want to stay. Nor did its sisters. They all left the clan to pick up the broken pieces of itself as they all left to live back in Twolegplace.

The prophecy though was fulfilled. The clans were no more, and that because of those three kits.

#warrior cats #brokenstar #raggedstar #warrior cats au #hopekit #wishkit #firestar #tigerclaw #tigerstar #hawkheart

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talonslockau · 1 month

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Forest of Secrets - Chapter 12

Chapter 11 || Index || Chapter 13

Fireheart’s wounds stung as he wearily followed Yellowfang into camp, but he kept his head held high nonetheless. By the nursery, he could see Snowkit alongside five younger kits watching with wide eyes as they returned triumphantly. Closer to the entrance, the elders were bickering amongst themselves, but they slowly quieted as they caught sight of the returning patrol and the broken body that the healer leading them was carrying.

Bluestar herself was waiting for them by the Highrock, her blue eyes narrow as she watched them approach. “What has happened? Dewpaw and Longtail returned with Mistspring, but-” Her eyes widened in shock as she saw who Yellowfang was carrying. “Is that Brokentail?”

“He was hit by a Monster trying to flee from us.” Dustleap snarled before the old healer could set her burden down. “Yellowfang insists we should let him live instead of killing him for his crimes against the code!”

“He lives because Starclan wills it!” The cantankerous molly snapped back at him, turning a baleful copper gaze on the young tabby before turning to Bluestar. “They would not have let him return if they did not want him here. Starclan has spoken: Brokentail must be allowed to live!”

Bluestar looked upon the mangled tom uneasily. “Brokentail.” She murmured softly, her gaze cold and unkind - so different compared to how she often looked at Fireheart and the rest of her Clan. “What do you have to say in your defense?”

He couldn’t see the tabby’s expression from where he was standing, but the ginger tom could only imagine that the rogue’s face was twisted into a deep scowl. “I have nothing to say to you!” He spat at her spitefully. “Thunderclan is full of weak mousehearts. I should have driven you all out when I had the chance!”

The silver leader’s eyes narrowed at the provocative words, but she seemed almost amused by his words more than offended. “And yet you never could.” She replied steadily as she looked back up to the patrol. “I do not understand, Yellowfang. Brokentail has broken every law of Starclan’s noble code. And yet you claim he is here because they willed it?”

“Starclan is the one that grants us lives, Bluestar.” The grizzled healer responded with a dip of her head. “And they are the ones that can take them away, as well. If they had wanted him to die by the Thunderpath, they would have done so. And yet, they have allowed him to live. It is Starclan that judges us for our deeds; if they have decided he still deserves to live, then who are we to claim that we know better?”

Fireheart refrained from rolling his eyes at the healer’s superstitious nonsense. There was no such thing as multiple lives; every cat knew that, or else Quickflash might have come back. Whatever powers Starclan did have, it was very obvious from having met Redtail that they would not interfere so boldly by resurrecting such a horrible leader. Still, he knew better than to interrupt her.

His ear twitched as he heard someone emerge from the bramble tunnel behind them. Glancing back, he saw as Tigerclaw entered camp, his amber eyes glowing as he spotted his son next to Bluestar. The tabby tom made straight for the small crowd, while Peppermask and Darkstripe looked on curiously behind him.

Bluestar gave a slight nod to her deputy, but didn’t take her eyes off of Brokentail. “Be that as it may, Yellowfang, what would you have me do with him? Even if we let him live, he would die soon enough without aid.”

“You’re not suggesting we throw him out?” The healer sounded astonished, as though the thought had never occurred to her. He didn’t know why: it sounded like a perfectly sensible solution to him. “We would be no better than him, throwing out the broken to die in the wilderness!”

The fur on Bluestar’s scruff rose at that. Fireheart winced, remembering how irate she had been at Mosspaw’s exile. “Those are not remotely the same. He exiled innocent kits because he couldn’t be bothered to use herbs: he is a murderer, and should be treated as such.” Bluestar responded coldly. Tigerclaw nodded approvingly beside her, and though it rankled him to agree with the traitorous tabby, he had to admit he could not argue with her. “There is no place in our camp or our territory for him.”

“If I may, Bluestar.” The crowd turned to see One-eye approach slowly. “The Clan once took prisoners, many seasons ago, back in the days when we fought bitterly with Windclan for territory. It has been long since that foxhole was used, but-” She glanced disdainfully at the exiled rogue before them, “I’m sure it would still fit him.”

“Keep Brokentail? In our own camp? One-eye, you must be mad.” Tigerclaw growled as he shook his head. “He would murder our kits by sundown!”

“I’m old, not senile! You’d do well to remember that, Tigerclaw.” The old white molly swung her head to glare at the deputy with a snarl. “I may only have one eye left, but I can see as well as you can that he’ll never be able to walk again. Even if he does manage to escape the prison, I’m sure whatever warrior is on guard duty will be able to catch him before he makes it to the nursery. Unless you don’t trust them to take on a two-legged elder, in which case they shouldn’t be on guard duty at all.” The elder gave a wide yawn once she finished her speech, showing off her broken and missing fangs prominently.

The deputy growled lowly in response, but he seemed momentarily cowed by the elder. Fireheart was surprised and impressed - not many cats could speak to the mighty warrior that way and expect to keep their ears. Beside him, Bluestar seemed thoughtful. “Perhaps it would be better to have him somewhere we can keep an eye on him.” She mewed at last. “He has already demonstrated a remarkable ability to survive destruction, like a swarm of rats. If we didn’t kill him now, it’s impossible to know what harm he could bring later.”

“You’re not seriously considering it?” Dustleap huffed bitterly as he lashed his tail. “Well, I’m not hunting even a flea for this pile of crowfood! He can starve to death for all I care.”

He glanced at Bluestar, wondering what the leader was going to say, but it was Yellowfang that spoke first. “I will care for him.” The old molly growled roughly, dipping her head to the silver queen before her. “As healer, it is my responsibility to see to Starclan’s will. If this is how I must serve them, so be it.”

The leader watched Yellowfang with a scrutinizing gaze. At last, she nodded slowly. “Very well. So long as no undue burdens are placed upon my warriors, I see no reason not to imprison him. Being held captive by such weak mousehearts will surely be punishment enough for this rogue for whatever lifetime Starclan grants him.” She gazed down on the exile, her whiskers twitching in amusement as she threw his words back at him. “One-eye, show Yellowfang to the foxhole. Tigerclaw, I expect that there should now be two cats on guard duty at all times, with one being posted next to the prison.”

The large tabby nodded slowly to the leader as One-eye began showing Yellowfang across camp, towards the apprentices’ den. “It will be done.” He mewed, though the irritation in his voice and his twitching tail tip indicated he still wasn’t quite pleased with this plan.

“What about the rest of Brokentail’s exiles?” Bluestar asked as she looked back to the rest of the patrol. “Longtail told me that they had been driven out. Do you think they will return?”

“It’s possible. None were killed in the attack.” Mousefur mewed as she stepped forward. “But I don’t think they will be so eager to attack us, especially not without their leader. I doubt we’ll be seeing them for many moons.”

“Make sure there’s a regular patrol along the Twolegplace border, as well.” The leader instructed Tigerclaw once the dusky brown molly had finished speaking. “Once a day will be enough - just to make sure that Brokentail’s rogues don’t find their way into our territory.”

“They were already hunting within our territory. We found crowfood near their nest, and one of them mentioned bringing back prey from our territory before the fight.” Mousefur mewed with a nod to Fireheart. “Fireheart and Longtail were right. Brokentail was already a threat, we just hadn’t realized it yet.”

“I see. I’m glad we acted quickly, then.” Bluestar mewed appreciatively. “You all will have to tell the other Clans of the battle at the next Gathering.” Fireheart perked his ears at that. She was already guaranteeing that he would get to go to the Gathering? The others would be thrilled to hear it. He started to get to his feet when the silver queen spoke again. “Though you could perhaps leave out the part about Brokentail himself.”

“Why?” Dustleap challenged brashly, his tail still lashing. “You’re not ashamed of taking in that old fleabag, are you?”

“No. I trust my healer’s word.” Bluestar replied, her gaze unwavering as she looked on at the reckless tabby warrior. “But mention of him will surely open old wounds. There is no reason to bring it up needlessly. If any cat asks, he died under that Monster’s paws.”

Dustleap sneered at that, but Fireheart nodded in understanding. Even with Yellowfang, the topic of the old Shadowclan tyrant seemed raw. He couldn’t imagine how it would be for Windclan, who lost their home to his greedy claws, or Shadowclan, who suffered cruelly underneath his leadership. She was right: it was best to leave the topic be.

The cats surrounding her began to disperse across the clearing. Fireheart watched as Cinderpaw bolted for the healer’s den - checking on her mentor, he realized guiltily. He had nearly forgotten about her in all that had happened after the battle. He was about to follow the gray apprentice when he stiffened and glanced back to Bluestar. “Has Graystripe returned from hunting yet?” He asked curiously.

She glanced at him, a small frown crossing her silvery muzzle. “He has not.” She admitted. “Why?”

He frowned at her response. It was unusual for any warrior to be out all day, but perhaps Graystripe had lost track of the sun. “You said you wanted two cats on guard duty. I was supposed to be the second, but then there was the battle.” Tigerclaw narrowed his amber eyes, and he added quickly, “I just wanted to offer to guard Brokentail first, at least until Tigerclaw assigns the night vigils.”

The deputy’s gaze stayed narrow, but Bluestar smiled in delight. “Of course, Fireheart. I appreciate the dedication. The Clan needs that more than ever these days.” She sighed softly as her blue eyes drifted across his pelt, torn from both the battle and the rose bush he had chased Brokentail through. “But you must see Yellowfang and Dewpaw afterwards. I can’t risk your wounds getting infected now that leafbare is here.”

“Of course.” He mewed with a dip of his head, taking the opportunity to dismiss himself. He crossed camp towards the ferns of the apprentices’ den that he had seen One-eye take Yellowfang. He paused by it, glancing around in confusion. She had mentioned a foxhole, but he had never seen one near their old den.

“Looking for the prison?” He jumped as One-eye seemed to materialize beside him. “It’s over there, just behind the warriors’ den.” She pointed with a paw, and he followed it to see an almost-hidden hole in the ground. Long grass and a few tree shoots surrounded it; if she hadn’t pointed it out, he would have never seen it. “Well hidden, of course. We couldn’t have any enemies sneaking in to free their friends.”

“Thank you.” He mewed, trotting over. The hole was small, only big enough for a young apprentice to fit through comfortably. Tigerclaw, Lionheart and Whitestorm would never be able to fit in on their own. Then, he supposed, perhaps that was a good thing for Brokentail - it meant that the more murderous members of the Clan wouldn’t enact their own justice on him.

He threw back his shoulders and started to squeeze his way in. He didn’t need to see the inside, really, but he was curious. It was evidently very rare for Thunderclan to take prisoners, and he didn’t know when he’d get another opportunity like this.

The inside was almost black, and even though he couldn’t see, he could feel with his whiskers how cramped it was. He blinked slowly, trying to let his eyes adjust, when he heard soft murmuring. As the space slowly came into focus, he could see Yellowfang and Brokentail laying in a shallow groove in the dirt. The healer was gently lapping at the exile’s head with her eyes closed, just like he had when he had been comforting Princess.

“Yellowfang!” He hissed in surprise. “What are you doing?”

The old molly startled at his voice, opening her eyes to see him standing in front of them. “Fireheart!” She gasped, clearly also shocked to see him. “What are you doing in here?”

“I was going to guard Brokentail.” He scowled at the kit-killer. Even though he had volunteered for it, that didn’t mean he liked the rogue any more than Dustleap seemed to. “What in Starclan’s name were you doing to him? Were you comforting him?”

The healer stared at him with wide eyes, as though she hadn’t processed what he said at all. Then her shoulders sagged and her gaze dropped to the floor. “I was.”

“Why?” Fireheart asked in confusion. She hated the tyrant that had exiled her, didn’t she? Surely his comfort would be the last thing on his mind. He shook his head slowly in disbelief. “He doesn’t deserve that.”

Her gaze slowly turned to the mangled tabby beside her, her eyes drifting across his still form. She watched as his flank slowly and steadily rose and fell. He was sleeping, the ginger tom realized after a moment. “Because he’s my son.”

Fireheart blinked at her, not sure if he had heard her right. “Your son?” He echoed dimly as he stared at her. “But I thought healers weren’t allowed to have kits.”

“We aren’t.” Yellowfang sighed as she watched the tabby tom breathing, her eyes filled with a fondness he hadn’t seen from her before. “I was young, and foolish. I was in love with his father - Raggedstar. We were leader and healer, then, and I believed that there was nothing that could stop us.” Her copper gaze then clouded with grief. “I was wrong.”

Fireheart glanced behind him. No cat was going to sneak up on them, at least for the time being, so he slowly sat down. He owed it to Yellowfang, at least, to hear her out. “What happened?”

“I had three.” She mewed softly. “The first two were stillborn mollies. I named the first one Hopekit, after the hope I had that the rest would live. I named the second Wishkit, after the wish I had that they would forgive me in Starclan for breaking the code. The third…” Fireheart glanced at the exile before him. “Brokenkit, after the broken heart I had realizing I could never raise him as his mother.”

She looked back up to the Thunderclan warrior, her eyes watering. “I knew then that I had betrayed Starclan by taking a mate and kits, and that they were punishing me for my insolence. I thought that Hopekit and Wishkit’s deaths were the curse they had given me.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “But now I know I was wrong. My punishment was not that my daughters died. It’s that my son lived!”

Brokentail didn’t startle out of his sleep, still slumbering soundly despite the howling of the queen beside him. “Does he know? That you’re his mother, I mean?”

“No.” She opened her eyes and gazed back down at her tabby son. “I buried Hopekit and Wishkit where they were born, and took Brokenkit back to Raggedstar. He was surprised at my change of mind, but agreed to have one of the queens nurse him instead.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “One jumped at the chance to nurse Raggedstar’s son. She raised Brokentail like he was her own. He likely still believes she was his birth mother.”

She sighed wistfully at the memories. “I recommitted myself to my duties as a healer. No one but my mentor ever suspected that I was Brokentail’s birth mother, and I was able to move on with my life. But Starclan never forgot, and they certainly never forgave.” The healer’s paws shuffled shamefully in the soil. “Ever since his birth, I have been unable to speak to them. Thankfully, I have always had an apprentice there to interpret their will for me, but it is a constant reminder that I have broken our sacred code.”

He watched her carefully. “You said that you knew that my sister was in a hard position, and that you couldn’t leave her in distress. Is- is this why you agreed to help her?”

Yellowfang nodded slowly in response. “My mentor taught me those secrets I mentioned when I was a half-moon away from kitting. I think she knew, even if she didn’t say it out loud.” She sighed once more. “Sometimes I wonder if she looks down on me from Starclan even now, still disappointed in me for not following the healer code. I abandoned my old self completely - my love, my kits, my name - yet still, my shame follows me.”

He perked his ears in surprise as she spoke. “Your name? You had a different name?”

She snorted. “What, did you think I was born Yellowkit?” The grizzled healer’s whiskers twitched in amusement at his question. “My mother may have been a bit mad, but she wasn’t blind. I had a name to match the rest of my siblings’, once.” She looked away, her smile fading after a few heartbeats. “But that name was given to me by Starclan. In abandoning them, I abandoned that name. Raggedstar gave me my new name, just after Brokenkit was born. There aren’t many in the Clans who remember my old name, now.”

He recalled the joke Graystripe had made on the way to a Gathering with him a couple of moons ago. “I guess I didn’t really think about it.” He finally mewed. “What was it, if I may ask?”

The melancholy molly shook her head slowly. “No. Like I said, that name is no longer my own. Starclan has made it clear I no longer deserve it.” The dark gray queen sighed as she looked down on her son, her gaze filled with heartache that spoke more words than she could ever say. “Just like he is no longer my son. It is only in these secret moments, when no one is watching, that I even dare to think about what life might have been.”

The elderly healer finally looked back up to him, her sorrowful copper gaze meeting his emerald eyes. “I understand if you cannot forgive me. I don’t know if I would either, in your position.”

Her form seemed to shrink before him, until she looked nearly as small as a new apprentice. He looked between her and Brokentail - her son, the cat she loved despite all that he had done, cared for unconditionally. He understood now why she had defended him so desperately; what mother would willfully send her son to his death? And even knowing all the atrocious acts that the tabby had committed, knowing that he only still lived because of Yellowfang, Fireheart couldn’t find it in himself to blame her.

“I’ll forgive you.” He declared at last. “But only on one condition.”

Her eyes glittered in what little light remained. “Speak your mind.” She replied wearily, as though already resigned to him extorting her.

“You forgive me for breaking your leg.”

They stared at each other for several moments. He wondered if perhaps she was thinking it over, but then she began convulsing, letting out a growl in between each shaky breath. “Yellowfang?” He mewed in concern for the old molly, stepping closer in the small cave.

“Oh, Fireheart.” She wheezed in between growls, and after a heartbeat he realized she’d been laughing. “I forgave you for that many moons ago.”

“Then I forgive you.” He mewed simply, leaning over Brokentail to touch his nose to hers affectionately. “Cats aren’t just their parents. I am not the kittypet my mother and father were. Brokentail is not Raggedstar or you. I wouldn’t thank him for your actions, just like I won’t blame you for his.”

Her laughter finally ceased, and she slowly looked up to fix him with a steady copper gaze. “You have more wisdom than some elders I’ve known, Fireheart.” Yellowfang murmured softly, finally standing up and moving away from Brokentail’s body. “Thank you. It feels good to have told another cat the truth.” She hesitated and looked back at her son briefly. “It… it may be selfish of me to ask, but would you keep this between us? Even though I can no longer speak with Starclan, I still enjoy my role as the Clan’s healer. I don’t want to give it up for anything.”

Fireheart stared at her in confusion. “Why would you have to give it up if other cats knew? Brokentail being your son has nothing to do with your skill as a healer.”

She chuffed as though he’d said something funny, but he could see tears welling in her eyes. “If only other warriors thought as you did.” She sighed and glanced down at her paws. “By taking a mate and having kits, I broke Starclan’s code. I could be exiled, if Bluestar so chose. At best, I would likely be forced to retire to the elders’ den. I may be old, but I still have some life left in me, I should think.”

The ginger warrior pressed himself against her, giving her a reassuring purr. “You’ve kept my secret, I see no reason why I shouldn’t keep yours. Besides, Dewpaw still needs a mentor, and it would tear her up to have her second mentor taken from her in as many moons.” He wondered what the spotted molly would think if she learned of Yellowfang’s secret; she had always been ready to recite the healer code, but he had no doubt that she loved the grumpy old healer as well.

“Dewpaw…” The grizzled gray molly hesitated at the mention of her apprentice’s name. “Do you think I should tell her the truth as well? I never told Wetnose, but… perhaps she deserves to know.”

He wasn’t sure how to answer that. He didn’t see the issue, but then, he wasn’t a healer. “I think you should trust your own judgement on that. Dewpaw’s an understanding cat. If you think she needs to know, then I’m sure she would be willing to keep your secret.” He blinked as the thought of the healer’s apprentice suddenly reminded him of what had happened after the battle. “You should go see her, though, and help her with Mistspring. Besides, I’m supposed to be outside, guarding Brokentail.” Even as he said that, he glanced back at the sleeping form. It wasn’t like there was much to guard right now.

“I already did what I could to help Mistspring. Whatever happens, she’s in Starclan’s paws now.” Still, the healer moved towards the crevice that led outside, before glancing back at the two toms. “Brokentail won’t be moving for a while. I gave him some poppy seeds to help ease the pain, and they’ll likely keep him sleeping through the night. You should come with me, so I can see to those injuries of yours.”

Fireheart hesitated, glancing back. While he trusted Yellowfang’s assessment, he had still promised Bluestar that he would guard the prison. “Can I come see you after I’m done? I don’t want to disappoint Bluestar.”

The old queen rolled her eyes at his words. “I’ll bring the herbs to you. You’ll be sitting outside?” He nodded quickly in response. “Fine, then.” She pushed her way through the entrance, her bulky Shadowclan frame loosing some of the dirt as she went through.

The warrior gave one last glance at the almost peaceful form of Brokentail before following her. It would be strange, having the former tyrant in camp, but some part of him was glad the tom had survived the Monster. Especially now that he knew the truth about his parentage. Even if Yellowfang might deny it, it was clear she still had affection for the broken tom.

He shook his head briefly to rid himself of the thought. It wasn’t his concern, anymore. As far as he cared, Brokentail was just a prisoner. He left the foxhole quickly, leaving the dark tabby to the shadows where he belonged.

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