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thistledown-au-warriors · 8 months

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fire and ice - chapter 28

< Chapter 27 || Index || Chapter 29 >

The weak rays of the setting sun threw long shadows across the clearing. Fire Heart limped over to Sand Storm and silently pressed cobwebs onto her wounds. The ginger molly had been relieved from her guard duty by Pale Tail. Violet Fang had asked Fire Heart to help Stone Pelt with patching up the more superficial wounds, and the healer apprentice had insisted he take care of Fire Heart's wounds before they got to work. Tiger's Claw had taken the rest of his unscathed raiding party in search of fresh-kill once the apprentices returned with their mentors. The apprentices had, ironically, mostly trained battle moves that day.

Fire Heart's stomach growled.

Sand Storm chuckled. "The herbs awakening your appetite?"

"Absolutely not." Fire Heart spat the rest of the poultice he was chewing on his paw as he spoke. "They taste pretty horrible and dry."

"Yeah, yeah. I was just teasing you." Sand Storm rolled her eyes.

As Fire Heart applied some broom poultice onto her scratches, he noticed that the warrior molly had a more peaceful demeanor than she'd had since Blazing Cinder's accident.

"Is Blazing Cinder feeling better?" Fire Heart asked carefully.

After a pause, Sand Storm answered. "... Yes, I believe. I really should have talked to her sooner. It weighs on me that she felt like this at all…" She took a deep breath. "... But I'm done letting my own feelings keep me from being there for her."

"I think it's good for you both." Fire Heart furrowed his brow. "By the way, I just remembered something. I became acquainted with Hop Step, the WindClan deputy, when we went to rescue WindClan."

"You?" Sand Storm looked at him, eyes round. "You were just an apprentice!"

"Well, we exchanged some words, it's not like we're friendly. But he remembered me at the Gathering. I was thinking of asking him or Bark Face about his foot."

Sand Storm's face lit up. "Oh, of course! Hop Step limps, but still became the deputy of the fastest Clan!" Then her expression became troubled. "I am not fond of asking another Clan for advice like this, though. It could show weakness if they know."

"Healers share treatments, don't they? Plus, we can't keep Blazing Cinder away from the other Clans forever. She'll go to a Gathering sooner or later." He pointed out.

Sand Storm began to speak, but the sound of pawsteps cut her off and they both looked. Dusty Earth and Swift Bird returned from their burial duty.

The two toms padded over to Blue Fur, who was sitting beneath the Highrock with Rose Fall. Fire Heart pushed himself to his paws and walked over to join them.

“We’ve buried Claw Strike.” meowed Dusty Earth, disgust lacing his mew.

“Thank you.” Blue Fur replied. The ThunderClan leader looked directly at Swift Bird. “You may go.” The black-and-white apprentice dipped his head and headed for his den.

Tiger's Claw and the hunting party trotted into the camp at that moment, carrying plenty of fresh-kill. Blue Fur looked at them, and pushed herself up the Highrock, calling for the Clan to gather. Fire Heart felt relieved when he saw Gray Stripe appear from the warriors’ den. He hadn’t left the camp after all.

The Clan gathered around the edge of the clearing. Elders and queens sat with the apprentices on one side, Fire Heart waited with the warriors on the other.

The last arc of sun glowed pink on the horizon. The Clan waited silently as it dipped out of sight, leaving the darkening sky pricked with stars.

Blue Fur began to speak. "I wanted to make sure you all know that Broken Tail is in the camp.” None of the cats uttered a noise. They knew already. Only a few cats hadn't been in the clearing for the decision, and were quickly informed. “He is blind, injured, and harmless.” A few cats snorted their displeasure, and Blue Fur nodded to acknowledge their fears. “I am as concerned as you are for the safety of our Clan. But, StarClan knows, we cannot turn him out to die in the forest. Violet Fang will nurse him until his wounds heal. Once they have, we’ll discuss this again. Rest assured, if he steps out of line even once, this arrangement will be addressed sooner.” Blue Fur looked around, listening for voices from the crowd, but no cat spoke, so she continued. "Tonight, a battle has been won. The Clan shall feast. It has been a long day and we have reason to be proud of the cats who defended our camp against the rogues. Sand Storm, Fire Heart and all the others fought bravely. You are great warriors, and I commend your initiative and skill. I'd also like to congratulate young Bracken Leaf for his bravery and speed. I’m proud to count you as members of my Clan.”

Despite their concerns, the cats meowed again, happy to have won a battle and finally avenged Broken Tail's attacks. Fire Heart’s looked around the crowd. Only Tiger's Claw and Dusty Earth eyed him with hostility, but for once he felt untouched by their jealousy. Blue Fur had praised him, and that was enough. Bracken Leaf seemed to be shy with all the attention, stuck between his usual good posture and making himself smaller.

One by one the cats stepped forward to take some of the fresh-kill Tiger's Claw’s party had brought. Fire Heart began to follow Sand Storm, but noticed Stone Pelt sitting away from the crowd grooming himself. He wasn't sure if the large tom had gotten his scratches looked at yet, and turned to Sand Storm. "Can you pick something for me? I'll check on Stone Pelt."

“Sure.” Sand Storm shrugged. "Don't take too long, though!"

"I'll be back in a couple rabbit-hops!" He called to her, racing to Stone Pelt.

The healer apprentice looked up at him as he approached and greeted him with a slow blink. Fire Heart noticed a small blood crust in the back of the tom's head right away. "Do you mind if I take care of that?" He pointed with his tail to the injury.

"Oh, not at all. It was stinging a bit now that you mention it." Stone Pelt meowed, laying down to make it easier for the shorter Fire Heart to reach.

Fire Heart licked the wound clean, and quickly used a bit of leftover poultice and cobwebs on it. He assumed that wouldn't usually be necessary, but with how mangey the rogues had been, he wouldn't be surprised if their claws carried infection.

Stone Pelt twitched his ear and sat up. "Thank you, Fire Heart. I'm just glad they didn't take another piece of my ears. Only true warriors can take one." He twitched his whiskers with amusement.

Fire Heart purred in response, then inquired. "Aren't you going to join the feast?"

The gray tom shook his head. "I'm waiting for the crowd to die down. I need to speak to Blue Fur." He hesitated, then looked Fire Heart in the eye. "I have resigned from my position as healer apprentice. I'm resuming my warrior duties tomorrow." He announced.

Fire Heart stared at him in shock. Stone Pelt had been the healer apprentice since before he joined ThunderClan, he must have been close to becoming a full healer. The tom had always seemed happy with his position, and had worked diligently after their return from WindClan despite mourning Leaf Spots' death.

Stone Pelt seemed a bit uncomfortable by Fire Heart's silence, but he continued. "I know it's shocking. But… I never fully fit in, I think. Working under Leaf Spots was always pleasant, she was a close friend of mine and I loved her company dearly. However, I must admit I became her apprentice due to selfish reasons. You must've heard the gossip about me being her apprentice."

Fire Heart thought for a moment, then remembered how Gray Stripe had once told him that many cats thought Stone Pelt had actually become Leaf Spots' apprentice to be close to his crush, who could never take a mate herself. The ginger warrior frowned in concern. Surely those rumors couldn't be true? "I've heard some things, yes." he meowed.

The former healer nodded. "They're untrue, but not unfounded. The thing is, I became a healer apprentice so I would never have to take a mate."

"What do you mean?" Fire Heart asked, blinking in surprise.

"I… had always understood, for example, that Leaf Spots was very pretty. But I didn't know why cats made that to be such a big deal. My parents were never very affectionate to each other, and broke off their relationship while I was an apprentice, although they remained friends. I guess that helped me not understand what that kind of love was. You know, romance." he looked at his own paws. "When Mossy Patch and Brindle Face were becoming mates, I got to see what that kind of relationship was. And… I didn't get it, not completely. Cats would tease me around that time, asking if I had an eye on anyone yet, things like that. But I never did. It felt… bad. To realize I was different. It got to me. Misty Step is never too affected, but I'm not like that. So I decided to become a healer, because I thought maybe my lack of interest in mates meant I should take that path."

Fire Heart flattened his ears. He knew what being different was — he wasn't clanborn. He and Cloud Tail got overly cruel comments frequently, and Fire Heart's feelings of isolation led him to seek comfort in his kittypet sister behind his Clan's back. He'd made some questionable decisions to satiate his need to feel accepted. Unexpectedly, he also thought about Gray Stripe. His friend had endured bullying as well just for being Fire Heart's closest friend, hadn't he? Could that have influenced his choice to start seeing Silver Stream?

Stone Pelt's words took him out of his thoughts. "Leaf Spots said I had a good memory for herbs, and dealt with injuries well. But I've never handled sickness and death as gracefully as she did… or as Violet Fang does. It always took a lot out of me, seeing cats suffer from illnesses… and losing my loved ones." he sighed. "Violet Fang said that my spirit got hurt from these things gravely, and not all cats could handle that. She said I should consider whether I could find strength to face all this grief moon upon moon, until I join StarClan. That there's no shame in taking the path that won't make me suffer. I decided to think on that, and I stayed to help her with the bout of greencough, but it helped me realize — no. I can't do this. I wouldn't mind helping, but I can't sit and watch ill cats until I die. I don't even have that much of a connection to StarClan to begin with, I've never gotten a sign. Having Leaf Spots with me gave me strength before, but without her... this was never my path, and I realize that now."

Fire Heart nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. I'm… glad that you found your way, though."

Stone Pelt shot him a grateful look. "Thanks. I imagined you'd understand." Then he tilted his head. "You know, sometimes Leaf Spots talked about you. You had an interest in herbs not many do, and also learned how to handle poultices and cobwebs well for Violet Fang. She said you had potential, if you chose the path of a healer instead of the one of a warrior. If you ever decide to ask Blue Fur to become a healer apprentice again, I'll stand by you. She has little reason to refuse now that I'm a warrior."

Fire Heart stared at Stone Pelt. His mind began to fill with a buzz. He'd resigned himself to do as his leader wished and serve the Clan as a warrior. "She won't want to hear of it again." He blurted out.

"She will, if Violet Fang and I ask her to reconsider. Misty Step would stand by you, too. She cares a lot, even if she doesn't show it much." Stone Pelt meowed with certainty. "Do consider it."

Fire Heart got to his paws and quickly nodded, throat tight. He hurried to the fresh-kill pile without thinking, then realized he had already asked Sand Storm to grab something for him. He glanced over the clearing, and noticed her sitting with Dusty Earth, White Flower, Willow Branch and Black Leopard. He wasn't ready to join them yet.

Thinking quickly, Fire Heart collected a vole from the fresh-kill pile and carried it to Violet Fang's den. The old molly was sitting inside. She’d been at the meeting, so she must have come straight back afterward. He was glad she was here - her abrasiveness would keep him from feeling overwhelmed inside this den after the conversation with Stone Pelt.

“I hope that’s not for me.” she growled as Fire Heart approached. “I’ve already had my share.”

Fire Heart dropped the vole on the ground. “I brought it for Blazing Cinder.” he answered. “I thought she might want something. She wasn’t at the meeting.”

“She was doing her exercises, and is resting now. I’ve given her some mouse meat, but you’re welcome to give her that as well.”

Fire Heart looked around the fern-shaded clearing. Broken Tail's brown fur was just visible through the stems of the bracken nest. The warrior was not moving.

“He’s still asleep.” Violet Fang's tone was brisk, the voice of a healer rather than a mother. Fire Heart couldn’t help feeling relieved. He picked up the vole and carried it to Blazing Cinder's nest. “Hey, Blazing Cinder.” he meowed softly into the bracken.

The gray cat stirred and pushed herself to a sitting position. “Fire Heart.”

Fire Heart stepped through the fronds and sat in the small space beside her. He dropped the vole at her paws. “Here.”

“Thanks.” The apprentice mewed, and dipped her head to take a bite of the vole. "I was starving." She seemed worn out.

"Looks like you're doing your exercises on your own now." He commented.

She nodded drowsily. "It hurts a lot. I don't know how I'll sleep." Blazing Cinder commented, chewing. "But I want to be walking better so Sand Storm can take me to the forest."

He smiled. Her energy had dimmed out, but was beginning to burn again. "Will you ask Violet Fang for a poppy seed if it gets too bad?"

She grunted in agreement as she tore another chunk of meat. He purred in amusement, then stood up. It was time he went back to Sand Storm. He turned to Violet Fang, looking between the two mollies. “Will you be okay here with Broken Tail?” he asked.

Violet Fang gave him a disdainful look. “I think we can manage, don’t you, Blazing Cinder?”

“He wouldn’t dare cause trouble.” she agreed confidently.

Violet Fang padded out of the den, and Fire Heart squeezed out after her. “Bye, Blazing Cinder!” he called.

“Bye-bye, and thanks for the food.”

“No problem.” he meowed. He turned to Violet Fang. “Have you got anything for this bite on my neck? Stone Pelt stopped the bleeding, but it hurts.”

The healer looked closely at his wound, removing the layer of cobwebs. “Looks like a nasty one.” she growled.

“It’s from Broken Tail." Fire Heart confessed.

She nodded. “Wait there.” She padded quickly to her den and returned with a bundle of herbs wrapped in leaves. “Can you manage them yourself? Just chew them up and rub the juice into the wounds. It’ll sting, but nothing a brave warrior can’t handle!”

He held back a grimace at brave warrior . “Thanks, Violet Fang.” Fire Heart picked up the bundle in his teeth after sniffing at it. "What are these?"

Violet Fang blinked. "Chervil leaves, goldenrod, oak leaves. I'm not trying to poison you."

Fire Heart almost dropped the bundle. "No! I just… Like to know what they are… and what they do." he murmured through the bundle of herbs.

The healer eyed curiously, but said no more. She led him to the tunnel entrance. Fire Heart looked at her. "I know about Stone Pelt." He mumbled.

She looked at him. "So he told you. I figured. Stone Pelt told me about your interest in being a healer." She sighed. "I'm tired of training apprentices, but I can't be the ThunderClan healer forever. Some young cat needs to take this job from me." Her orange eyes met his. "Don't feel pressured, though. Being a healer is a difficult path, as you've seen. You have to consider it carefully."

He nodded gravely. He gave a last wary glance at where Broken Tail lay, then said his goodbyes to Violet Fang and brushed through the ferns.

Outside, he nearly bumped into Misty Step, who was sitting by the entrance. "Hello, Fire Heart." she mewed. "Do you have a moment?"

He nodded, but shot a glance at where Sand Storm was sitting eating with the others. Misty Step didn't follow his gaze, but seemed to catch on. "It will be quick." she added.

The warriors padded a couple tail-lenghts away from the healer's den, then sat down. Fire Heart dropped his bundle by his paws.

Misty Step looked at him straight in the eye. "Good job with the battle today. You and the others defended the camp well, but I hear you are the one who noticed the danger first."

"Thank you, Misty Step. I did what I had to in order to keep my Clanmates safe." Fire Heart wanted to look away. Her gaze was too intense.

"Yes. I'm sure this will also help with your popularity with the Clan." her face did not change as she meowed, but her tail tip was twitching. "I've been hearing many things since you brought Cloud Tail to camp."

Fire Heart winced. He remembered the day Misty Step took him aside and offered to be Fire Heart's listening ear if he had any troubles. But instead, he had looked for help outside the Clan, in his kittypet sister, and blindsided his whole Clan by bringing her kit back. "Thanks for your help that day." he meowed quickly. "I really do appreciate it."

She blinked slowly. "Of course. Cloud Tail didn't deserve to suffer because of other cats' choices or prejudices."

Other cats' choices… Fire Heart swallowed. "Misty Step… Are you upset that I didn't tell you about Princess? My- my sister?"

The warrior's eyes narrowed slightly. "No. It's your right. If anything, you can understand now that your actions have consequences that may not prove themselves favorable, even if you mean no harm." Misty Step finally looked away, her chin slightly raised so she could look at the Starpath above. "I do understand, though, how confiding in me may not seem appealing. It's hard to trust a cat you can't read." she paused, closed her eyes for a moment. "I noticed you had been to Tallpines more frequently, about the same time I realized what Gray Stripe was up to." Fire Heart inhaled sharply in surprise, but she didn't pause. "I did not know for sure that you were visiting someone, but it seemed like whatever you were doing was bringing you some peace and you kept doing your duties diligently, unlike Gray Stripe. I must confess that I wanted to confront you sooner, but I figured you'd talk about it on your own time. Then you brought Cloud Tail to us and well… I must confess I began to question your judgement." Fire Heart looked down at his own paws. Misty Step continued. "Still, I don't share the Clan's thoughts on kittypets, I trained you. I just wished you went about it differently."

He nodded slowly, feeling like an apprentice again. Misty Step had known it all along, and kept his secret. But he had still let her down.

However, she didn't just know about that, that wasn't important anymore - the whole Clan knew. But they didn't know about Gray Stripe and Silver Stream, and Misty Step did.

"I managed to talk to Gray Stripe." He meowed quickly. "He agreed to only meet her at Fourtrees."

Misty Step seemed visibly relieved. "That's already an improvement." she looked away. "I suppose you should know more about me. It's only fair, since I know so much about you. It should go both ways." She looked down at her paws, and began to trace around a frozen pebble on the ground with a claw. "My littermates and I got curious one greenleaf and tried to swim to cool down. My mother found us out pretty quickly, and got angrier than I'd ever seen her, and told us we should never go near the river ever again." she paused, her eyes far away for a moment.

Fire Heart stared at her as she kept going. "One day, moons after, I snuck into the river again. And that's when I met Silver Stream, a brand new apprentice." Misty Step twitched her whiskers. "Instead of confronting me, she seemed amused by seeing a ThunderClan warrior trying to swim, so she stood there giving me tips. I asked her if she wasn't afraid to get in trouble. Silver Stream said she wasn't because her father was the leader. Which didn't impress me much." Misty Step looked at the forest. "After that, though, we spoke at Gatherings or border patrols often. We kind of bonded on our shared experiences with cats expecting things from us due to our parentage, although Silver Stream seemed more like she was too spoiled to be too concerned." Misty Step scoffed. "On a couple occasions, when we were alone at our sides of the river, she gave me swimming tips again. I can swim fine when the river is calm. Silver Stream says my pelt is good for it." she sighed, then looked at her paws. "She can be insufferable, but I'd say we're close, considering we're from different Clans. Maybe if I'd been more firm with that stupid kit, she wouldn't be so lax about borders now."

Fire Heart thought about it for a moment. "I think Silver Stream would do whatever she wanted no matter what."

The older warrior let out a chuckle. "You're probably right." She lifted her head and tucked her paws beneath her tail. "You should probably not keep Sand Storm waiting any longer."

"Right." He picked up his herb bundle, and turned to leave. Before walking away, he looked at her. "Misty Step… I'm grateful that you were my mentor."

She met his gaze, eyes softer. "I'm happy to know that. I'm glad that you were my apprentice."

His eyes shone. He dipped his head, then turned and bounded up to Sand Storm, paws lighter than they'd been before.

#thistledown au #thistledown fire and ice

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nemesis-is-my-middle-name · 1 year

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(reads tags) Ahh so I misunderstood the prompt a bit. I think the deities would be like the founders of the clans who got mythologized as time passed. Palkiacat being said to see anywhere across space and while Dialgacat was able to see anywhen across time. As for the wardens and the nobles, my first though was make them cats (and I like the idea of Sneasler being Ingo's mentor when he first joins Pearlclan), but if we really stretched the wc rules [1/5]

[ The nobles could be like other animals that are living in the area that have developed a mutual relationship with the clans for several generations. The wardens have similar roles to pla canon, but with slightly less of a religious bent. They're more ambassadors than attendants. There's a friendly badger that speaks cat in later series so it could work. And other predators are implied to be similarly sapient as the cats (sometimes) [2/5]

Canon warrior naming styles would be the most fun but just sticking to pla canon would be less potentially confusing. I don’t think Ingo would be super comfortable being renamed though. It’s like the one thing that he remembers and gives him a sense of identity in the aftermath so I don’t think he’d give it up even if it would make things easier for him. [3/5]

Hardest part of translating hisui to a smaller scale would trying to figure out how to make the alabaster icelands and the crimson mirelands work right next to each other. Though i guess you could rely on seasonal weather to do the heavy lifting. Winter and summer would be the times of year the respective regions most resemble their ingame counterparts. [4/5]

Also, its funny mentioned the leaders not being chosen and having only one life because in the current arc one of the clans is going through a succession crisis after the death of their leader and deputy and due to starclan being contactable right now due to events in the previous arc that's actually a pretty pressing concern. Sorry for the spam I saw your answers and was turning them over in my head during work. Worldbuilding is fun :D. [5/5] ]

oooh mythologized clan founders (pearlstar and diamondstar?) is really fun. and then by extension would they also be like, the Founders of starclan? admittedly my recall for the starclan lore is not super fresh but maybe in this au there's something where like. they were the first cats that went to starclan when they died bc their souls like, created it, and subsequently all the clan cats got to join them in death. and the NOBLES BEING NON-CAT ANIMALS... that's very very fun i like that. i remember the badger i liked the badger this is fun. and then the wardens being like, apprentices/assistants to the nobles in whatever task they work with the clan for... but then it's also kinda hard to assign all of them to their own unique animals. like some of them are obvious but what about electrode? lilligant? avalugg? and idk abt the vibes of having these ten different animals all involved it might get to be a little Much on top of the regular warriors stuff

otoh sneasler being ingo's mentor at first is VERY fun yes. and that's an ez warrior name like she's direclaw bam done. idk if dire is a valid prefix but i also dont really care considering i already said "iridistar" earlier so i think we're past that point. i DO think warrior cats-ifying their names sounds like a fun challenge esp. if we want to pull occasionally from the fact that a lot of the pla names are derived from different plants. melli is now tea-something. sabi is spicepaw. and like... ingo being a clan cat but keeping his old name is kind of an interesting reverse ravenpaw thing BUT if we want to REALLY angst him up, and considering pearlclan would probably really prefer if he took a "normally" formatted name, we could just. say that he forgot even his name. and then eventually Remembers it later and gets to have that crisis

that's true abt the climate shift hmmm. WELL if it's similar to the regular landscape of hisui, we could say that they live on a mountainside and the climate shifts are due to verticality, w/ the "icelands" being the highest-up point that the cats usually venture to? which you still probably wouldn't get AS dramatic as canon hisui is, but you can get a pretty significant temperature change by moving up and down. and then you can maybe have diamondclan runners vs pearlclan climbers too.

MMMM the one thing i like more than worldbuilding for stupid things: interpersonal political drama. so juicy to me. and dont apologize this is very fun!! this is what we're here for! kicking ideas around!!

#the nemesis speaks #the nemesis answers #anonymous #pokefic pitch #i do really need to go to sleep now tho

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sliverpelt-cats · 1 year

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Journey of Oak and Red || Chapter 2 || Warriors AU

AU Prompt: Oakheart and Redtail survive the Battle for Sunningrocks, and leave the forest territories for a life out of Tigerclaw's threats.

Characters: Oakheart, Redtail, new characters

Warnings: Description of blood and wounds, my own (horrible) interpretation of how Redtail and Oakheart would act with each other

Author's Note: There will be a lot of Hamilton references, because I'm vibing to many of the songs as I write this.

Timeframe: About the rest of Into the Wild.

°°°

Oakheart felt his face collide with dirt, as he and Redtail were shown through a dense forest by the three apprentices who had found them. Maybe he should have fought them, instead of listening to Redtail. They probably wouldn't have been in the position they were in now.

"Sorry," Redtail whispered, as he nudged Oakheart up. "We should have fought back."

A tri-coloured she-cat entered the clearing Oakheart realised they were in. "I told you to gather herbs, Mousepaw. Not rogues."

"Found them in the old house, Panthereye," Firepaw explained. "The brown one was sleeping, the other one had heard us come in. They didn't fight back. I'd say they're loners."

The she-cat sighed, shaking her head. "Any wounds on them?"

"Scrapes and shallow cuts, but they're already patched up." Mousepaw replied, looking up at who Oakheart only assumed to be his mentor. "I made sure they were completely covered before we brought them. They know how to treat wounds."

Panthereye hummed, nodding. "Well then. What are your names?"

"I'm Redtail," he glanced behind him, "and this is Oakheart. We were ThunderClan and RiverClan deputies before we came here."

"Redtail, and Oakheart." Panthereye purred. "Fitting."

"What's going on?"

The tabico she-cat looked up into a tree, and Oakheart followed her gaze. A white tom with silver speckles looked down at them. "The apprentices brought the rogues must have Sparrowfur and Nettlewatcher scented on their border."

"What are they doing here?"

"We-" Firepaw started.

The tom hissed, "get back to your duties, apprentices."

"Go on, keep an eye on Wheateyes for me," Panthereye purred to her apprentice, who nodded and headed into the base of a tree. "I'm sure the apprentices just wanted to prove themselves, Dawnstar."

Dawnstar frowned, before sighing. "If you say so, Panthereye. Take them to Crabstorm; if StarClan has no objections, we'll give them a warriors assessment at dusk before the Clans meet."

"Yes, sir." The tabico she-cat turned to Oakheart and Redtail with a smile. "Come, you two. Crabstorm will commune with StarClan as to whether you can stay with us."

Oakheart had a million questions, chasing after Panthereye as she entered a thick oak tree. "Wait, your leader will just let us stay? What if we're a danger to your clan? Why would you let a band of rogues stay in your clan?"

"This is a very small band of rogues," a dark brown tom teased, standing a ways off from the entrance, watching them. "You must be Oakheart and Redtail. I'm Crabstorm."

"How did you-"

Panthereye chuckled, "where there's a way, assume the clan's priest knows."

"Priest?" Redtail asked, looking to the she-cat for answers.

"The connection to StarClan; the bridge, if you will." Crabstorm lifted his head in a smug manner. "Now, what can I do you for, Panthereye? Ask StarClan for a remedy? Maybe a poison?"

"Don't be foolish, Crabstorm. If I wanted a clanmate to die, they'd already be in StarClan by now. Dawnstar wants StarClan's blessing for them to stay." The tabico she-cat meowed, sitting down to stroke her shoulder with her tongue.

Crabstorm purred, amused. "Very well then. I can tell you what they have told me." The tom paused, his paw stirring the water of the small pond. His den wasn't fairly big, from what Oakheart could see in his position, with the pond taking a good portion of the area. A flat rock sat on the far side of the den, and the brown tom assumed the clan's priest had slept there.

It was absurd that this clan had a priest, when it was supposed to be the medicine cat's duty to communicate with StarClan. Does Panthereye have no connection to StarClan? Is that why Crabstorm does? Why isn't he the medicine cat?

"Well?" Panthereye pressed, having finished cleaning her short pelt. "What did they say?"

Crabstorm looked up from the spinning water. "Nothing. If StarClan was to object, I am sure they would have expressed it. I sensed a storm upon the apprentices brought Redtail and Oakheart, but other than that - they haven't said anything."

"All cats old enough to hunt the forest like our ancestors, come to the Hightree for a clan meeting!" Dawnstar's voice yowled, and Panthereye's attention was pulled away from Crabstorm.

The she-cat purred, waving her tail as she padded out of the den. "Come, you two." Panthereye led the toms from the priest's den, heading down the small slope and into the clearing towards the clan's meeting spot.

The silver speckled tom twitched his ears, sending a silent message to Panthereye. Oakheart let his eyes wander onto the gathering cats, hoping to find some comfort in the looks they gave him and Redtail. Of course, none was found.

"While the apprentices were gathering herbs for Panthereye at sunhigh, they found two rogues in the old twoleg nest in the border of us and LionClan. Brushstorm and I have reason to believe that they are the rogues scented on LionClan's border."

A pale ginger warrior hissed, "then we should get them out of our camp. Or kill them, whichever is faster."

"Honeypot," an almost identical tom mewed, his tail swiping over the she-cat's. "We can't kill cats, it's against the Code."

So they have a priest, and they follow the Warrior Code. Maybe we're not too different. Oakheart glanced around the camp, taking in the layout.

"See, that one is planning where to attack us first!" Honeyspot hissed again, her hackles rising in aggression.

He felt the clan's stares, and Redtail looked up at him before standing. "Dawnstar, may I speak?"

"Of course."

"Oakheart and I are not here to harm your clan. We travelled this close to your territory to escape a danger in our clans." Honeyspot laughed at Redtail's explanation. "I had been the deputy of my clan, before I was threatened by one of my warriors. Oakheart was the deputy of his clan, but I felt it was best that he came with him for his own protection."

The pale ginger she-cat rolled her eyes. "No clan cat would drive out their own deputy, he's lying, Dawnstar. We should just kill them now."

"No cat is killing any cat," Panthereye hissed in retaliation, standing between the she-cat and Oakheart defensively. "You have no right to decide who lives and who dies, Honeyspot."

The warrior hesitated, as if unsure whether to bite back. From what Oakheart could tell, no cat was to challenge the authority of the clan's medicine cat. "Panthereye-"

"I am TigerClan's sole doctor, and the longest living doctor of this clan by far. I will not let a warrior undermine my authority, especially when the warrior doesn't know what it means to hold the life of another cat in your paws. I won't force Dawnstar to let them stay, I only urge him to consider their stay for the good of the clan," her blue eyes cast up at the tom watching the clan. "History has its eyes on you, Dawnstar. StarClan has its eyes on you."

Crabstorm emerged from his den, "well said, Panthereye. StarClan was right, you will be a formidable doctor indeed." He looked from the she-cat up to his leader. "StarClan has communicated that Redtail and Oakheart may stay. They must learn to swim like our striped ancestors, and hunt in the thickness of the forest as our warriors do, but they may stay."

"They could kill any kits this clan has! We don't know their strength or their weaknesses."

Panthereye growled, "you were a fool for undermining me, but now you question StarClan? You are far more mouse-brained than your father when you were a kit." Her blue eyes cast across to the she-cat's apprentice, before looking up at Dawnstar. "Is this meeting over? I need more herbs, and I'd like it if Honeyspot and Finpaw retrieved me some from the brush growing along the creek."

Dawnstar nodded, letting out a soft purr and he leapt from the branch. He stopped by Oakheart and Redtail, "did either of your clans teach you to swim?"

"I grew up around rivers, it was required that apprentices learnt to swim before earning their warrior name." Oakheart explained, while Redtail shook his head.

"Well then, Brushstorm will see how well you hunt," Dawnstar nodded at Oakheart, and he turned to Redtail. "I'll have you learn to swim with Newtpaw and Firepaw, Dewfish will supervise."

Redtail nodded, following the pale ginger tom who greeted him awkwardly. He followed the tom and apprentices from the camp, Oakheart watching quietly.

"Come to my den when you return," Panthereye meowed softly, looking up at Oakheart. "I'll make sure your wounds will heal in no time."

Oakheart purred at the light warming his pelt and soothing his aching joints. The dawn patrol had tired him out, leaving him to only lift his head as Redtail padded into the camp with a trout in his mouth. His dual-coloured fur stuck to his legs and his sides, and his tail swayed happily as he was followed by Newtpaw.

He watched as his friend was approached by the clan's deputy, the much larger she-cat asking Redtail a question, to which he nodded excitedly. Oakheart watched Redtail notice his excitement, the tortoiseshell tom stopping himself and nodded dutifully.

Once he was dismissed to eat, Redtail picked up a piece of prey for himself and Oakheart. He slumped down against a tree beside the brown tabby. "Hungry?"

"Of course."

"How was dawn patrol?"

"I think TigerClan's territory is bigger than RiverClan's doubled." Oakheart grumbled, pawing at the trout before taking a bite from it. When he swallowed, the tom continued. "So many spots to catch fish too."

Redtail agreed with a purr, "definitely. Newtpaw showed me this cove with fresh water. All the mice and squirrels go down there for the cool water."

"Hm, I'll stick to the fish, you can eat all the mice and squirrels you want." Oakheart purred, finishing off the fish and caught Panthereye's gaze. "You know, Panthereye is a pretty she-cat."

The tortoiseshell's amber eyes looked up from the headless squirrel. "You think of taking a mate? We've been here for barely two moons."

"No, I was talking about a mate for you. She's nice, knows the clan well. Opened her den to us when Honeyspot hissed at us every moment she could whenever we put a paw near the warrior's den."

"I guess so." Redtail nodded at the clan's doctor, who blinked at him softly and headed into her den. He stood, "we should take from fresh-kill to her and Mousepaw."

Oakheart chuckled, standing up and retrieving a fat mouse for the apprentice. He felt bad that he was giving a mouse as food to a cat called Mousepaw, but remembered hearing the apprentices talking about the doctor's apprentice loving the taste of mice so much.

Redtail entered the den first, holding a rabbit in his jaws. "Panthereye? Oakheart brought you and Mousepaw something to eat."

"Thanks," the tabico she-cat quickly meowed, darting from her herb store up the tree to the patients' room in the ground below the willow tree. "You can leave it by Mousepaw's nest!"

Redtail did as he was told, looking back at Oakheart. "Is everything okay?"

"We just need to make sure all the bedding is ready and clean before the hunt," Mousepaw purred, climbing into the main floor of the den from underneath. "Thanks, Oakheart. You remembered."

The tom purred, "of course. Your littermates are rather loud."

"They definitely are," the silver tom laughed, munching on the mouse brought for him. Panthereye emerged from the moss and sat down to eat. "Do you think I could join them today, Panthereye? I've been especially good since the last hunt."

The she-cat thought for a moment. "Well, that's up to Dawnstar. With Oakheart and Redtail now a part of TigerClan, I don't think they'll need every cat attending the hunts anymore."

"What's the hunt?"

"Oh, you came a quarter-moon after the last hunt," Panthereye realised. "The hunt is when all of the warriors, who are able enough, hunt a deer for the clan to feed off for the next moon. You're required to join the hunt if you're a full warrior. Dawnstar decides whether or not the apprentices go." She meowed softly, "Silkstep's joints got worse before the last hunt, so he allowed the apprentices to join them. I even sent Mousepaw to go, since they needed all the paws they needed."

Mousepaw looked away, "we didn't get the doe though." His ears twisted back in shame. "I should've learnt how to hunt sooner."

"You're not required to know how hunting skills as my apprentice, Mousepaw. And we were already down a warrior, with Wheateyes expecting Mintkit." Panthereye licked her apprentice between the ears reassuringly. "If we had the time, I'd have you train with your littermates, but I need you in here."

Dawnstar entered the den. "It's time we leave. It's just past sunhigh, meaning the herd will be roaming the forest now."

"Go on," Panthereye purred, reaching forward to press her nose to Redtail's neck. "I'm expecting you to bring back a plump stag."

Oakheart watched as Redtail stood proudly, and laughed. "We have to make sure this fish-brained doesn't get stepped on by one." He swatted his friend playfully, bounding out of the doctor's den.

He felt as whole as he could now, bantering with Redtail. They'd become close on the journey, taking in turns hunting when the other was particularly sore. And Redtail had tried to protect him when the apprentices found them.

But he missed his home, and his family. He wondered how Crookedstar was doing, assuming his only brother was dead. Mistyfoot and Stonefur would probably be so distraught, losing their father.

And Bluestar. Oh, Bluestar.

Mourning her deputy would be one thing, but mourning her mate? Oakheart hoped it didn't destroy her, but he doubted that it would. As much as she loved him, Bluestar was strong. She would put aside her own feelings for the good of ThunderClan.

"Oakheart," Redtail hissed, pushing the brown tom's head down with his paw. "The deer."

The tom's green eyes gazed through the forest undergrowth, before spotting a large, hoofed mammal. "Right, sorry. So what do we do?"

"I'll distract it, and scare it towards Honeyflight. Honeyspot, Brushstorm and Oakheart, link around to the stag's right. Redtail and Dewfish, you stay here on the stag's left." Dawnstar nodded at Honeyspot to cover in ferns by the male deer's flank, as the tom crawled around to the front. He jumped out from the undergrowth, yowling as he latched his claws into the stag's neck. "Honeyflight!"

The golden she-cat pounced, and bit into the stag's leg as it turned and ran towards her. Blood trickled from the leg, the deer staggering with a limp as it tried to buck it's attackers off.

Oakheart followed Brushstorm's orders, as she jumped onto the stag's back, tearing down its side with her claws. He caught a sneering glance from Honeyspot, as streaks of pale ginger and red flew past Oakheart's line of vision.

"Oakheart, Honeyspot, now!" The deputy squealed, flying from her grip on the stag. Honeyspot made for the deer's back leg, dragging it down with all her might as she sheathed her claws into the spurred up dirt. Oakheart attacked the stag's face, clawing its eyes and thus, blinding the prey.

Panic set in for the stag and it threw itself against trees to get the cats from it. Oakheart hissed, as his back collided with the tree. As he fell to the ground, the tom gasped for air.

"Oakheart, are you okay?" Redtail's soft meow fell onto Oakheart's ears.

The large tom lowered his head, "everything hurts. And I'm tired."

"Help us drag this thing back, and you can get all the rest you want," Dawnstar purred, taking the scruff of the stag's neck in his mouth. The warriors, deputy and leader worked together to bring their kill back into camp. The apprentices and sole kit were overjoyed at the size of the deer. "Eat up, young ones. You both as well, Wheateyes and Silkstep. Once you've had your fill, let the warriors eat."

Redtail rubbed himself against Oakheart, "Come on. We can go see Panthereye about getting something to calm your aches." Oakheart agreed, following the tortoiseshell into the doctor's den.

#warrior cats fanfiction #warriors #warrior cats #warrior cats au #redtail and oakheart live au

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veiled-clan · 4 months

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(This clan is made using the monstrous mayhem challenge (with turn based combat) in the clangen discord and using the accessories+ mod)

long ago, Veiledclan was blessed by the dark forest with "gifts", but these so called blessing demanded new forms, so the cats were transformed, and starclan wasn't happy with that, so they cursed the clan to be confined within their borders, living in perpetual leaf-fall

(this is very silly and I don't have a lot of thoughts rn so this lore is subject to change, mostly the details tho)

Introducing now, the cats of Veiledclan:

(I will make some slight changes on their designs in the future)

Goldstar, the leader of Veiledclan

He is 89 moons (at moon 0)

He is a mummy and has wraps in almost every part of his body, except the movable parts like joints, ears, etc and his skin is very very thin

An out of the box thinker and a good speaker. often defending those who cant fend for themselves. hes kind and loved by everyone on the clan

Skills:

Hipnotic, has a chance to knock out opponents for a few turns or make them unable to continue fighting the battle untill the end Opponent is knocked out for 1-3 turns.

Undead Resilience (+15 HP): These monsters can’t be stunned or hypnotized, but are usually quite slow (they aren’t the first to attack).

Emeraldgaze, the deputy of Veiledclan

89 moons old

He is a gorgon with snakes on his head and a rattle in his tail

He would kill anyone to protect his clan, despite the bloodthirsty nature, he's a beloved kitsitter

Skills:

Stone Stare: The user sends a harsh glare at their opponent, and if they make eye contact, they're turned to stone temporarily and frozen in place. If frozen in stone, the opponent is no longer able to battle unless the user of the ability is knocked out or killed.

Smokemane, the healer

57 moons old

He is a sphynx but more normal, with a cat head instead of a human one

He keeps the story of the clan and often goes out exploring and gathering herbs.

Skills:

Decipher me or I'll devour you: During 3 rounds he will say a riddle and freeze an opposing cat until they answer it, if they answer wrong, they take 10 dmg, if they answer right: 1 time: nothing happens. 2 times: nothing happens. 3 times: Smokemane cannot attack that cat anymore. (I created this one hehehe)

Featherfuzz, the mediator

35 moons old

He's a harpy, his front legs are wings and he has feathers instead of fur

He's a good speaker, despite his playful nature, and a good mediator

Skill:

Convincing song: makes an opponent unable to attack for a few turns or forces them to attack an ally

Inkyheart

90 moons old

She's a demon, with a demon tail, horns, spikes, wings and black scleras

A demon who found herself unable to leave the clan after the curse was set upon them, shes an eloquent speaker, often using that ability to get away with the trouble she causes.

Skill:

Manipulates shadows): -15 HP to opponent. There's a 25% chance of shocking or trapping opponents each time the ability is used, which will skip the opponent’s next turn.

Grayscales

86 moons old

A dragon, with dragon wings, horns, spikes and talons

A skilled heart-reader,who spends most of her time with Smokemane, passing on the stories of the clan

Skill:

Super Strength: They can deliver a -20 HP blow. There's a chance the opponent will be knocked out each time this move is used, thus making this ability-user victorious.

Nightsprout

56 moons old

A cow Centaur, with the upper half of a cat and the lower of a cow

A good storyteller, often seen entertaining the kits, and a good swimmer

Skill:

Super Strength: They can deliver a -20 HP blow. There's a chance the opponent will be knocked out each time this move is used, thus making this ability-user victorious.

Rustyleaf

23 moons old

A dryad, with plants growing from her fur.

A troublesome cat who dozes off easily.

Skills:

Photosynthesis: They recover 2.5 HP every turn (only in the sun-light, so battles during the day).

Scorpionpaw

9 moons old

A Manticore, with a lion mane, bat wings and a scorpion tail

An adventurous cat and a picky nest builder.

Skill:

Venomous: Similar to Cursed Bite, but they'll continually lose 2.5 damage instead of 5 until they flee the battle and are treated.

Glitterpaw

10 moons old

A very tiny pixie with dragonfly wings and a sparkly aura

The sneaky and oddly insightfull pixie, he loves to steal and hide the other cats trinkets

Skill:

Agility (-15 HP): These creatures are unusually fast! They’ll always attack first (unless facing an ability that nullifies theirs). They're twice as likely to avoid all attacks (making a 50/50 chance a 25% chance of hitting them).

#veiledclan #veiledallegiances #tw snakes #tw mummy #tw bugs #bug features #extra limbs #black sclera #bug tw #WHY IS THE QUALITY SO BAD OMG

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warriorsbutnotreally · 3 years

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Firestar Has Powers As The Fourth - AU

ooo

so I'm gonna make this a TPB thing

but I will add some afternote info

for future events

in case anyone wants to do anything with this

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He sheepishly admits to it

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

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

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

With no goodbyes to anyone, he follows them

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Barkface liked that

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

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

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

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

Fireheart interrupts by saying he was considering being a medicine cat

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

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

Fireheart is aware of this

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

He's also aware of this

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

Princess is happy to see him

He's happy to see Princess

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There he sees Graystripe hanging out with a RiverClan cat

He confronts them and Graystripe introduces Silverstream

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

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

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

Fireheart brings up his sister

Graystripe feels awkward now

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

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

He goes to Bluestar and asks what he should do

Bluestar is confused

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

She asks if he's being truthful

He isn't sure

She then asks what he wants to do

He's still not sure

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

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

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

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

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

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

She admits she isn't sure

Fireheart promises change

She laughs a bit and says "sure"

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

The two become friends

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

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

Fireheart is confused

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shadow and Wind invade Thunder, get chased off etc

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tigerclaw is still mad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He chooses Sandstorm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fireheart is worried

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The gathering doesn't go great

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

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

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

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

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

She hesitates but agrees

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Everyone's worried about Bluestar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fireheart manages to chase her off

He returns and is overwhelmed with everything that just happened.

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

The other cats are in agreement.

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

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

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

Sandstorm is understanding

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

Graypool's death happens

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sandstorm scuffs his ear for being an idiot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sandstorm is unable to stop him.

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

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

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

RiverClan gets driven away

Fireheart helps cats with their injuries on the way back.

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

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

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

Brackenpaw eventually falls back and goes to warn his Clanmates.

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

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

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

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

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

Sandstorm isn't having Bluestar's bs.

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

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

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

He is overworked

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

Bluestar's tempted but Fireheart manages to reason with her

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

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

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

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

He promises she'll be deputy again

Brindleface death reveal goes about the same

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

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

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

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

The dogs get chased over the edge and Bluestar dies.

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

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

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

Fireheart is confident in her.

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

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

Fireheart is a lot less confident

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

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

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

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

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

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

He apologizes.

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

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

He is shaken awake by his own shock

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

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

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

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

They could be doing better, especially Tawnypaw and Bramblepaw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tigerstar is skeptical but allows this

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ravenpaw and Barley join to help the fight

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They go and the battle against BloodClan begins

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

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

He watches as Scourge turns and Sandstar loses her first life

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

BloodClan is chased from the forest

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

And that ends TPB

For some after notes;

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brightsong and Cloudtail still get together

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

Sorreltail and Brackenheart still get together

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

This is about as much as I got-

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

#au #fireheart #firestar #sandstorm #sandstar #warriors #warrior cats #this took #longer than expected to get done #but #here we are!

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canon-notcanon-warriorcats · 3 years

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Decatssi: A Warrior Cats Re-write Arc I

-dustpaw is mentored by tigerclaw and ravenpaw is mentored by redtail, both apprentices witness redtail being killed by tigerclaw, though ravenpaw wasn’t supposed to

-redtail and runningwind are sandpaw’s dads and she has a breakdown over her dad’s death

-sandpaw is still mentored by whitestorm, graypaw is mentored by mousefur, and ravenpaw is given to lionheart to finish his training, firepaw is juggled between all of them for a couple days but runningwind and bluestar end up dual mentoring him

-bluestar makes lionheart deputy as usual, ravenpaw is still scared of tigerclaw, but since he doesn’t have to be constantly around him and has the protection of lionheart and his friends, he doesn’t leave thunderclan and fake his death

-sandpaw gets close to firepaw before she’s a warrior because she realizes that dustpaw is a big jerk wad and firepaw isn’t even that bad and her dad is his mentor and he likes him and she knows that redtail would’ve liked him as well, so dustpaw, tigerclaw, darkstripe, and longtail are probably the wrong ones

-brokenstar was already the leader when firepaw joins and has been for like a year and now he’s ran out windclan and yellowfang

-firepaw finds yellowfang and instead of everyone being like “we should kill her” they actually have brain cells and are like “something’s not right, also yellowfang you can chill here, but firepaw you still have to take care of her because you brought her here” tigerclaw, darkstripe, and dustpaw are the only ones pissed at yellowfang existing in thunderclan

-brokenstar attacks thunderclan while most of the warriors are out on patrol (hmmm tigerclaw, lionheart, firepaw, ravenpaw, and runngingwind are the only cats trained and healthy enough to properly fight while this attack is going on, interesting) because they want more babies to make into murder machines, spottedleaf, who doesn’t have any weird feelings for firepaw and instead is sandpaw’s cool and wise aunt who she loves, is killed, rosetail is killed, thrushpelt is killed (he was an elder, he didn’t die yet before firepaw came to the forest) and lionheart are killed

-bluestar losing her girlfriend, boyfriend, medicine cat, AND deputy gets hit very hard and refuses to name a new deputy because she’s lost two in like a month and a half “if starclan keeps taking my deputies, then they can be the one to choose them!”

-she goes to the moonstone with all the apprentices, whitestorm, mousefur, and runningwind and gets killed by a rat but she’s better now and still has two lives so she’s fine

-ashkit and fernkit are now born to brindleface and their dad is darkstripe, but he wants nothing to do with them and is an asshole to brindleface for no reason, also it should be mentioned that darkstripe’s dad is thistleclaw who was killed by redtail and whitestorm when he was an apprentice and his mom is willowpelt, and now willowpelt and whitestorm are mates so now he has a grudge against both of them and is angry because his family is weird now (no one besides whitestorm and willowpelt know it was him and redtail who killed thistleclaw)

-snowkit is born to speckletail and unknown tom, she won’t say and no one cares, also oh no snowkit is deaf but speckletail’s sister, one-eye, who is going deaf, helps them learn a kind of sign language, and a bunch of thunderclan, including the kits, wanna learn too

-firepaw decides that windclan being chased out for almost 3 moons is too long so him, ravenpaw, graypaw, and sandpaw go save them, not dustpaw though because dustpaw said it was stupid and windclan should stay gone

-they succeed! and bluestar is so impressed she makes them into warriors: fireheart, graystripe, ravenpelt, and sandstorm, dustpaw gets pissed off that he isn’t made a warrior too, he’s older than graystripe and fireheart and his brother got made a warrior, but bluestar tells him to shut up, cats become warriors when they act like warriors, not when they become a certain age

-brokenstar attacks thunderclan again, but this time bluestar captures him and kills him once and also blinds him, everyone takes a moment to remember exactly why she was made leader

-everyone’s nervous that bluestar still hasn’t chosen a deputy yet, they all know it’s between whitestorm or tigerclaw, but bluestar’s still scared they’ll just die as soon as she makes one of them deputy, redtail had only been deputy fro a few moons (one-eye was her deputy before she retired) and lionheart had been deputy for like what, a month and a half before he was killed? also bramblekit and tawnykit are born to goldenflower and tigerclaw

-tigerclaw is weirdly close to brokenstar “theywere friends when they were apprentices and warriors together” everyone says, but is that really what’s happening

-shadowclan is glad to be rid of brokenstar and his followers and they choose nightpelt as their new leader, who actually does get eight lives and becomes nightstar, but they’re pissed that thunderclan is keeping brokenstar because if they had just killed him one last time by now nightstar could’ve had 9 lives

-bluestar makes brightpaw, cinderpaw, brackenpaw, and thornpaw apprentices and give them to sandstorm, fireheart, graystripe, and ravenpelt respectively, it’s been like a moon and dustpaw is still an apprentice because he’s a little turd head

-except graystripe has been going off on his own a lot lately and is like barely mentor, turns out he’s dating silverstream who saved his life while coming back from saving windclan, sandstorm gets angry because she’s had a crush on her for moons but i guess she didn’t like her back

-brokenstar’s rogues attack to free him, but they’re actually being led by tigerclaw now and in the flurry of battle, tigerclaw kills bluestar onces, but she beats him out of her den with the help of whitestorm and fireheart before he can take another one

-yellowfang feeds brokenstar deathberries as she tells him she’s his mom in the midst of battle so the rogues attacking only comes to his death

-what a surprise, tigerclaw had been conspiring with brokenstar and took over his rogues, bluestar banishes him and he’s chased out, but dustpaw follows him because he’s more loyal to tigerclaw than thunderclan and he’s pissed that bluestar didn’t make him a warrior, darkstripe stays to everyone’s surprised because he was tigerclaw’s first apprentice and they were super close, longtail is shocked and angry at tigerclaw and revokes any and all respect and loyalty he had towards him

-bluestar finally names whitestorm as her deputy and orders to keep a watch out for tigerclaw and dustpaw

approximate amount of time that passes during all of this: 5 moons

-graystripe is whitestorm and willowpelt’s son (kiiind of) and so darkstripe also has a super grudge against him, also graystripe gloats that his dad is the thunderclan deputy a LOT now, he also sometimes calls bluestar grandma

-it’s the beginning of leaf-bare now

-while out on a patrol-date, fireheart and sandstorm find old tigerclaw scent by twolegplace so they try to track where he’s been, but when they find a brown trabby it’s actually fireheart’s long lost sister princess!

-fireheart has vague memories of her, but she recognizes him immediately and is so excited and tries to get him to follow her to visit their mom, nutmeg, fireheart declines saying that thunderclan is his home now, sandstorm leaves them to catch up and hunt, tigerclaw’s sent was too old anyway

-they talk for quite a bit and princess tells fireheart that she’s afraid her twolegs will take away her 5 kits who are a moon old now and after fireheart has told her about the clans she wants one of them to come live with him

-fireheart is hesitant, but princess doesn’t really take no for an answer and brings out a white fluff ball she named cloud and really how can you say no to that

-fireheart brings fluffy back to camp and everyone’s kind pissed, but bluestar’s just like “you really like bringing cats outside of the clan to us don’t you” but she has a soft spot for white cats because her sister was white, her first apprentice, frostfur, was white, and her nephew-son-deputy is white, she also has a soft spot for fireheart so how can she say no, “okay, but you have to be his dad now”, brindleface offers to take him because her kits, ashkit and fernkit, are the closest in age to cloudkit, darkstripe gets extremely pissed off that his “mate” is nursing a kittypet and his son and daughter are now being raised with a kittypet, but brindleface puts him in his place and basically officially breaks up with him, if they were ever considered a couple in the first place

-a few days later a patrol of whitestorm, runningwind, fireheart, and cinderpaw are patroling the shadowclan border, suddenly there’s some rustling and it’s not until then that runningwind catches tigerclaw’s scent (he’s one of the best trackers in the clan, no one else could scent it yet over the stench of the thunderpath) tigerclaw jumps at whitestorm, but runningwind zooms between them, saving whitestorm and getting killed by tigerclaw instead, who runs across the thunderpath into shadowclan territory, his two rogues following behind him (they were fighting fireheart, whitestorm, and cinderpaw)

-cinderpaw goes after them even with her mentor and deputy yelling at her to not and she gets hit by a car, her left back leg being almost cleanly torn off from below the knee, whitestorm carries runningwind and fireheart carries his apprentice back to camp

-sandstorm has another breakdown because now both of her parents are dead and tigerclaw is the one that killed them both, runningwind’s parents halftail and one-eye, his sister, mousefur, his former mentor, bluestar, and his former apprentice, fireheart, all grieve immensely for him as well and sit vigil

-frostfur, thornpaw, brightpaw, and brackenpaw are all also terrified for cinderpaw, fireheart is caught between grief for both runningwind and his apprentice, but yellowfang removes cinderpaw’s barely hanging on leg and she miraculously survives, yellowfang thinks this is the first time in clan history a cat has lost a leg and survived

-a week later cinderpaw is back on her paws, or trying to be, she asks yellowfang if she’ll have to be a medicine cat, but yellowfang tells her that she’s too much of a fighter to be a medicine cat, she has to become a warrior, fireheart vows to train cinderpaw to be the best warrior she can be and so she can become a warrior alongside her littermates, all while also basically training brackenpaw because graystripe keeps sneaking away, and helping to raise cloudkit, this is when sandstorm falls in love with him, they had been friends kind of crushing before, but now it was evident that they were falling madly in love with each other

-a terrible sickness starts in shadowclan, it’s so bad nightstar has already lost two lives to it

-fireheart visits windclan with cinderpaw to get tips from the deputy, deadfoot, on hos to become a warrior with only three fully functioning legs

-at some point both yellowfang and tallstar call fireheart their son

-a rare thunderstorm happens during leaf-bare about a moon after cinderpaw’s accident and a fire starts close to thunderclan’s camp, they flee over the river and stay the night in the riverclan camp until the fire has stopped after being put out by the falling snow

-yellowfang and fireheart save bramblekit, but speckletail sadly dies from smoke inhalation while saving her son, snowkit, smallear reveals that he was snowkit’s father, goldenflower asks if he was also her’s and lionheart’s father, but he says no, their father had been sunstar, thunderclan’s leader before bluestar “why didn’t speckletail tell anyone” “because she was honorary and didn’t like other cats knowing her business, neither sunstar or me had ever actually been her loves anyway”

-bluestar talks to mistyfoot and stonefure a /lot/ and seems to take an interest in mistyfoots new kits, primrosekit, pikekit, perchkit, and reedkit

-graystripe does a terrible job at hiding him and silverstream being mates a secret and hangs out with her and mosspelt, who’s pregnant, a lot, silverstream reveals to everyone that she is ALSO PREGNANT but she refuses to tell who the father is

-thunderclan returns to their territory the next morning, the camp needs rebuilding, but luckily the fire didn’t damage an especially large amount of territory, darkstripe is fidgety

-also this is around the time littlecloud decides to become a medicine cat, him and cinderpaw become good friends at the first gathering she’s back and he gets inspired to take a path of healing, a path that brokenstar had refused him, he also has his boyfriend, whitethroat with him

-a couple nights later, goldenflower screams that her kits are missing and soon darkstripe comes back with them, saying they had tried escaping the camp and he had found them on his way back from getting some fresh air, he’s also weirdly taken interest in his own kits, like he wants to become an actual father to them

-willowpelt is pregnant with whitestorm’s second litter of kits!

-there’s dog scent by snakerocks, and also dead rabbits, what could be happening, better go to windclan and interrogate them

-tallstar denies any windclan activity in thunderclan territory, but they still haven’t SEEN any dogs at snakerocks and it might be too dangerous to check it out, even though it’s leaf-bare, adders could still come out of their dens

-brackenpaw is anxious that graystripe has hardly been around for his training and thinks that maybe graystripe doesn’t think he’s good enough to be a warrior, so he asks his littermates to help him fight off the dogs at snakerocks, if he does that graystripe will HAVE to recognize him as good enough, but only brightpaw agrees to come with him, and only because it’s a stupid idea and he shouldn’t go alone

-the next night they go to get rid of the dogs and brackenpaw and brutally murdered and brightpaw is found staying alive by a thread, without an eye and a torn ear

-frostfur is devistated, just after her one daughter was healing, her other daughter was barely alive and one of her sons was dead

-thornpaw tells fireheart, sandstorm, and ravenpelt why they went to drive out the dogs and they get justifiably angry at graystripe, who walks back into camp only after brackenpaw’s body was laying in the middle of the clearing

-sandstorm is so angry at him she swipes at his muzzle, cause droplets of blood to appear and graystripe, in fear, anger, and grief runs out of the camp again, fireheart and ravenpelt run after him, knowing exactly where he’s going, and when they reach sunningrocks they find silverstream giving birth far too early to her’s and graystripe’s kits

-yellowfang is too far away and will still be busy trying to save brightpaw, so, defying silverstream’s and graystripe’s wants, retrieves riverclan’s medicine cat, mudfur, but it’s sadly not enough as silverstream dies shortly after both of the kits are born and she barely utters names for them, featherkit and stormkit

-crookedstar, being by his daughter’s side as she died just as her own mother had died giving birth to her and her siblings, is extremely angered and upset at graystripe, but when graystripe asks to live in riverclan with his kits, crookedstar hesitantly allows him, ravenpelt and fireheart object, but graystripe tells them he’d do better with his kits in their mother’s clan than he’s been doing in thunderclan as a warrior, leaving with crookedstar and mudstar, mosspelt, who had just given birth to two kits, dawnkit and shinekit, two days earlier, turned out to have also been silverstreams mate, and those two kits had been surrogated by a tom for her and silverstream to raise together, graystripe knew this was happening and gladly agreed to mosspelt nursing his kits

approximate time that has passed between part 1 and now: 4 months

-with the news that graystripe has moved to riverclan to be with his kits bluestar and whitestorm just kind of quietly accept that their family can’t have a normal relationship ever

-frostfur is pissed because it seems like graystripe is running away from his actions causing his apprentice’s death, but she doesn’t want to be and tries to hold it in, hoping that the bigger reason why he left was because he wanted to be with his kits and if so she can respect that and makes her very slightly less angry

-with everything going on, bramblekit and tawnykit “sneak out” again and darkstripe “finds them” outside of camp /again/

-it takes brightpaw over a day to regain consciousness, but the bleeding has finally calmed down and she’s going to be okay

-bluestar wants to make thornpaw, cinderpaw, and brightpaw warriors now because thornpaw’s ready, cinderpaw has gracefully caught up and is doing really well adapting, and brightpaw will need help adapting to hunt and fight with only one eye but before this she was basically ready to become a warrior, but thornpaw and cinderpaw want to wait for their sister to be healed

-bluestar agrees, though she didn’t want almost as many apprentices as there are warriors, but it’s close to when ashkit, fernkit, snowkit, and cloudkit should be apprenticed

-bluestar wanted to give snowpaw to willowpelt but she’s gonna have kits any day now, so she gives him to frostfur instead, gives ashpaw to whitestorm, decides to finally trust longtail and gives him his first apprentice in fernpaw, and even though he’s technically still mentoring cinderpaw, bluestar gives cloudpaw to fireheart because who else could mentor this fluffy idiot

-darkstripe is overly mad that his son is being mentored by whitestorm

-willowpelt gives birth to sorrelkit, rainkit, and sootkit hooray

-a few days after silverstream gives birth, crookedstar loses his last life to greencough and leopardfur takes his place as leader and is now leopardstar and she names stonefur as her deputy, graystripe is afraid she’ll kick him out, but luckily she tells him that as long as he’s loyal, he may stay

-meanwhile, dead rabbits keep appearing closer and closer to the thunderclan camp, seriously, in THIS leaf-bare

-patchpelt just keels over and dies because of “stomach pain”

-in the midst of mourning and darkstripe going “at least we’ll get more food” because fuck you darkstripe, brindleface is found murdered close to camp, her scent is covered in rabbit scent and wet moss, everyone correctly guesses that tigerclaw must have killed her and is probably the one killing the rabbits and slowly training and leading the dogs to the camp, but he’s been hiding his scent so no one can tell it’s him, darkstripe says that that’s reach it couldn’t possibly be tigerclaw, but no one believes him and why isn’t he angry that the mother of his children has been brutally murdered and almost made into dog food

-”hey at least it wasn’t willowpelt” he says ominously

-everyone agrees that the dogs need to get out of their territory because they’ll know where their camp is now, so they make a plan to trick them into jumping off of the cliff over the riverclan waterfall

-ashpaw, fernpaw, and cloudpaw want to be in on it but since they’ve only been apprentices for like half a moon bluestar obviously says no, whitestorm also tells bluestar to not be a part of it because he doesn’t want her to die for the final time

-before they go bluestar names frostfur’s children warriors, naming cinderpaw cinderpelt, thornpaw thornclaw, and brightpaw, who’s been starting to leave the medicine cat den, brightheart, she also gives a naming ceremony for the dead brackenpaw, saying that she would have named him brackenfur after his mother

-a patrol of thornclaw, fireheart, sandstorm, whitestorm, and longtail take turns having the pack of dogs chase them through thunderclan territory until they reach the waterfall, but instead of slipping in they manage to stop

-bluestar had been hiding there the whole time and attacks the leader dog, both her and the dogs falling into the waterfall

-thornclaw and longtail run back to tell everyone else what happened while sandstorm, fireheart, and whitestorm run to help bluestar

-the dogs are dead, but they soon find stonefur and mistyfoot pulling bluestar onto sunningrocks

-mistyfoot presses onto bluestar’s chest and she coughs up water, looking up she’s extremely happy at how brave and talented her children are and she’s so glad they’re such great and respected warriors

-”wait you’re our real mom???” “wait they’re bluestar’s kits that disappeared???” whitestorm nods

-bluestar tells them that she wished she could’ve raised them, but she’s so glad they have a happy life in riverclan and she’s so thankful to graypool and oakheart for raising them and loving them, and she is glad that all her living kits, including whitestorm and fireheart, are all finally together with her, she whispers that she wished that they could’ve raised them all, together, before passing away for the final time,

-whitestorm elaborates through grief that bluestar had given up her kits so she could become leader instead of his father, thistleclaw, who was an evil and bloodthirsty cat who would’ve had thunderclan dive into an era of nothing but war and death, and that mosskit died on the journey to riverclan, bluestar had never fully forgiven herself, and that she wished that her, graypool, oakheart, and thrushpelt could have all raised them happily together

-mistyfoot and stonefur nod and are understanding, mistyfoot saying she had sometimes thought they were born in thunderclan because she had vague memories of the thunderclan camp even though she had thought she had never been there, and her and stonefur both felt like they had met mousefur and runningwind before they were apprentices, as it turns out they had once been den mates in the nursery

-they decline sitting vigil for bluestar though, as mistyfoot has to get back to her kits and see how her son, perchkit, is doing as he is very sick, along with many riverclan cats, crookedstar dying of greencough was only the beginning. and stonefur must get back to his duties as deputy

-everyone mourns greatly for bluestar and whitestorm realizes this means he is now leader of thunderclan, but he takes a full day to mourn for his adopted mom and aunt before leaving for the moonstone with yellowfang

-after him and yellowfang leave, sorrelkit secretly follows darkstripe as he sneaks bramblekit and tawnykit out of camp, she wants to go too “hey where are you going?” she squeaks, darkstripe tells her to come with him and roughly grabs her by the scruff, but bramblekit and tawnykit, being almost 6 moons old now yell at him to stop and goldenflower and willowpelt run to find their kits, darkstripe drops sorrelkit, dazing her and willowpelt scoops her up to get her away, goldenflower demands to know what was happening, fireheart, longtail, and sandstorm come to see what’s happening and everyone goes back into camp, darkstripe tells everyone that bramblekit and tawnykit were trying to go see their father because they want to see him again and they want to look up to him and be like him and they were trying to take sorrelkit with them, tawnykit calls his bullshit as well as goldenflower, saying that they’d never be anything like their father no matter what anyone says

-tawnykit and bramblekit tell everyone that darkstripe has taken them to see tigerclaw multiple times, always meeting in shadowclan territory, but they were told not to tell anyone, and darkstripe had been telling tigerclaw everything that was happening in thunderclan, sorrelkit mews that she had just wanted to see what they were doing and followed them

-everyone agrees to put a guard on darkstripe until whitestorm and yellowfang got back, mousefur and longtail offer to be the first guards and darkstripe is made to stay in the old elders den that got charred in the fire

-whitestorm, now whitestar, and yellowfang get back the next day, with bad news, they came across a patrol lead by deadfoot while in windclan and he said that shadowclan had been acting very weird for a long time, and many cats have apparently gotten sick and they believe nightstar might have recently died, and they don’t know who his new deputy was because the former deputy had died of the illness, and now they keep finding shadowclan scent on their territory, whitestar tells everyone they need to be on extra guard since shadowclan had been so secretive and barely attending gatherings since nightstar had been so sick

-goldenflower is the one to inform whitestar about what darkstripe did- and has been doing, whitestar is infuriated at his half brother and his first act as thunderclan’s leader is to banish him, he tells him that if he is still so loyal to tigerclaw that he can go join him, darkstripe is chased out, sandstorm and longtail chasing him off into twoleglace, surprisingly, but before he goes darkstripe admits that it was him and tigerclaw who set the camp on fire and that all of thunderclan will die as soon as tigerclaw gets his way

-after darkstripe is chased off, whitestar decides that before he names his deputy he must make bramblekit and tawnykit apprentices, he gives tawnykit to cinderpelt and is about to give bramblekit to thornclaw when bramblekit speaks up, he doesn’t want to become a warrior, he wants to become yellowfang’s apprentice and become a medicine cat, he’d wanted it ever since she and fireheart saved him from the fire, and he wanted there to be no way that he could follow in his father’s pawsteps and instead make up for what he’s done by healing

-yellowfang gruffly agrees that perhaps he will make a good medicine cat and comments that she needs an apprentice because she’s not getting any younger

-whitestar then names goldenflower as his deputy, everyone is shocked, including goldenflower, because they expected fireheart or sandstorm to be chosen, but goldenflower humbly accepts her new role, tawnypaw and bramblepaw are ecstatic that their mother is now deputy of their clan

-two nights later is the gathering, shadowclan and riverclan were the first to be there, because they came together, cats from both clans intertwined under the four great oaks, with tigerclaw, now tigerstar, sitting on top of the great rock, leopardstar and blackfoot sitting underneath where deputies usually sit, and darkstripe and dustpaw not too far away, along with brokenstar’s/tigerstar’s group of rogues, which had even more members now than ever before

-Thunderclan is immediately angry and windclan is very very confused, Whitestar refuses to jump onto the Great Rock because he will not share it with Tigerstar and what the heck did he do with RiverClan? Tallstar, seeing the tension and realizing something’s gone down jumps off as well, trying to get answers from Whitestar, who announces that Tigerstar killed Redtail, tried to kill Bluestar, killed two other ThunderClan warriors directly, set ThunderClan on fire, and tried to lead dogs to ThunderClan’s camp

-ShadowClan goes “nooo he was with US, he brought our warriors back and helped us get rid of the illness, he’s been making us strong again” they won’t believe tigerstar could do all that

-tigerstar continues to go on that he is now also strengthening riverclan by ridding them of their illness and joining them with shadowclan to make TIGERCLAN, the riverclan cats seem to shrink and be embarrassed, especially leopardstar, it is then that whitestar notices that riverclan’s deputy, stonefur, was not at the gathering, nor was mistyfoot or graystripe or any of their kits, who would be new apprentices by now and should be attending their first gathering

-tigerstar continues that leopardstar’s and mistyfoot’s son, perchkit, died of the illness but since then the sickness had cleared after he isolated the half-clan cats in riverclan, including mistyfoot and her kits, stonefur, and the unloyal graystripe and his half-clan kits, the sickness had also killed graypool, who had tried to defend mistyfoot and stonefur from being imprisoned because she had raised them as her own when they were brought to riverclan (tigerstar actually killed her/had her killed and said it was the sickness that took her)

-tigerstar explains that it was the half-clan cats that had died from this illness because they were inherently weaker then pure blooded clan cats because their loyalty, and therefore their strength, was split no matter what they said or did, tigerstar says that the only way to get rid of this weakness in the clans is to become one clan, under him, to become as strong as they can be, riverclan already did it, and now he was proposing for windclan and thunderclan to join, even with their “difficult” past

-thunderclan and windclan obviously object and refuse, which tigerstar angrily retorts that then whoever doesn’t join tigerclan in the next three days will be killed by his clan and that windclan and thunderclan would be destroyed either way

-the gathering ends with windclan and thunderclan leaving first, when thunderclan gets back to camp they’re greeted by a half starved graystripe, who says that with less of tigerstar’s followers in camp he managed to escape, he trembles in fear, agony, and embarrasment as he begs for forgiveness and for help to save his kits and mosspelt, as well as mistyfoot and her kits and stonefur

-fireheart and ravenpelt immediately agree, as well as willowpelt who covers graystripe in licks and gives him a mouse to eat; sandstorm, taken aback by her cousin’s state, agrees that it would be wrong to not try to rescue his kits

-whitestar pretends to think on it for a moment, but then fully agrees that thunderclan will help in any way they can, and will take in graystripe’s kits, mosspelt, mistyfoot and her kits, and stonefur as refugees, it would be wrong to not try to help any cat, especially since most of these cats were thunderclan’s kin (he pretended to think, but we all know he would have killed tigerclan himself to save his grandkits and his cousin-siblings and niece and nephew-cousins)

-a rescue party of graystripe, ravenpelt, fireheart, and sandstorm is sent to rescue the cats: graystripe to guide where they’re being held, ravenpelt because he’s small and sleek so he can hide easily and be sneaky, and fireheart and sandstorm because they’re fast and can hopefully fend anyone off just enough to escape. They roll in river mud to hide their scents and pelts, especially fireheart’s

-they hide in the bushes bordering the riverclan camp by the nursery where the cats are being held hostage and they’re met with the horrifying sight of blackclaw and dustclaw shoving graystripe’s kits, stormpaw and featherpaw, into the middle of the half-wrecked camp and mosspelt yowling in distress as two black and white toms (snake and ice) block her way of escaping through the nursery entance, stonefur is being held guard by darkstripe and blackfoot on the other side of camp as tigerstar growls that the new apprentices’ father cowarded away like the thunderclan cat he is to leave his kits to die without him and that they must pay for their father’s disloyalty and cowardice, while stonefur must prove his own loyalty to tigerclan by being the one to kill them, especially his own apprentice, stormfur, yowls of objection can be heard through the nursery by mistyfoot and her kits even though they can’t be seen

-leopardstar, looking miserable and defeated, looks up to tigerstar and asks him why stonefur must be so cruel, he’s already proven clan loyalty, he was her deputy, he was a brave, strong, and loyal cat even if he was half-clan, he shouldn’t have to murder to prove his strength, and the apprentices hadn’t had a chance to prove themselves yet, but they were crookedstar’s grandkits of course they would be strong and loyal to riverclan-

-tigerstar interrupts her there, hissing that their riverclan loyalty didn’t matter, that riverclan no longer existed, only tigerclan, and she had allowed graystripe to stay even though she knew he was a disloyal thunderclan cat, and therefore she had no say and no power in this decision, which made her bristle and a glint of her old stubbornness returned to her gaze, but she said no more ase she glanced around at the glares of tigerstar’s cats and even a pawful of her own cats, who supposedly her own cats, like blackclaw who she had once seen as her brother since they were nursed and raised together

-ravenpelt presses graystripe to the ground as he almost let’s out a full growl in the bushes of the camp and sandstorm and fireheart start thinking of a plan, perhaps making a distraction and getting as many cats out as possible, graystripe and fireheart start vigorously digging a hole behind the nursery that maybe mistyfoot, her kits, mosspelt, and her own birth kit, dawnpaw who wouldn’t leave her foster littermates or her mother, could squeeze out of while ravenpelt slinked away to make some sort of distraction, sandstorm whispers into the nursery that they’re there to save them, mistyfoot says that she will not leave her brother, and mosspelt says that she will not leave stormpaw and feather, sandstorm says that once ravenpelt makes the distraction that she needs to call to stormpaw, featherpaw, and stonefur to run to the nursery as fast as possible

-blackfoot shoves stonefur forward to be in front of the young apprentices who look half starved like graystripe and trembling, stonefur bends down and quickly whispers something into stormpaw’s and featherpaw’s ears and touches his nose to stormpaw’s head and gives him a knowing nod before turning to tigerstar who’s hissing to “prove your loyalty already, no more soft heartedness” stonefur raises his head up high and proudly states that he would never kill an apprentice, especially not innocent ones who are also his clanmates and kin

-tigerstar growls “of course” and flicks his tail to darkstripe and blackfoot who immediately run toward the apprentices only to be blocked by stormfur’s body, still strong with being half starved, there’s no more time, the hole has to be big enough and ravenpelt’s yowl can be heard from the opposite side of the camp where he lays hidden several fox lengths away, mosspelt yells out to stormpaw and featherpaw to run back, and with cats running to go see what the howl was, the fight bloody fight between stonefur, darkstripe, and blackfoot, and mosspelt’s howl, ice and snake are confused enough to be pushed through by the apprentices, who even though are young and starved still have the bulk of their father to push through and daze their guards, dawnpaw slithers through the hole first, then featherpaw, stormpaw, and mosspelt after them. Mistyfoot shoves her kits toward the hole and is about to run through the entrance to help her brother until snake and ice crash through the entrance instead with growls and hisses “THE HALF CLAN CATS ARE GETTING AWAY” ice yells, but two of mistyfoot’s kits have already gotten out of the nursery and reedpaw is almost through, snake smacks mistyfoot down with giant paws, but as reedpaw escape sandstorm slips through and pounces on the black and white tom, knocking him over into his brother and she pushes mistyfoot towards the hole, yelling at her to leave now, but she leaves through the nursery entrance instead, where she’s met with blackfoot’s jaws snapped shut around stonefur’s neck, his blood covered body gone limp and his eyes glazed over with death as blackfoot drops his body like a piece of rotten prey

-tigerstar order his cats to catch the escapees, but there are only a few left that didn’t go after ravenpelt’s yowl and weren’t on patrol, leopardstar yells, begs, mistyfoot to run, which snaps her out of her daze and she turns around and dashes away, pushing through the walls of the camp, sandstorm slashes and kicks at the cats that try to get in her way and mistyfoot leaps into the river, where the rest of the escapees are farther ahead, because most of the cats following tigerstar can’t swim like riverclan cats, the only way they can follow them is one by one across the stepping stones, where whitestar planted a patrol of longtail, mousefur, thornclaw, and himself as back up, and trapping the tigerclan cats so they can only head back to riverclan or get clawed at with no where to escape

-blackclaw; however, was still raised riverclan and also now follows tigerstar, along with beetlenose, voleclaw, and sunfish and they swim after the escapees, sandstorm, graystripe, and fireheart reach sunningrocks and continue to run to meet them, dawnpaw, featherpaw, and stormpaw are the first to make it to shore where graystripe immediately warms them with licks, mosspelt and mistyfoot’s kits make it soon after, but blackclaw is almost caught up to mistyfoot and as she gets onto shore he hooks her back leg with a claw, but fireheart and sandstorm bat him away, and whitestar’s patrol joins them, fighting the former riverclan cats who flee, being outnumbered

-the 8 riverclan refugees are quickly taken to thunderclan camp and made nests, fed, and made warm, featherpaw, stormpaw, and dawnpaw sleep in the apprentices den, and with graystripe insisting that he stays with his kits it’s quite cramped but warm, reedpaw, primrosepaw, and pikepaw stay with their mother and mosspelt in the nursery

-that night the cats of both riverclan and thunderclan sit vigil for stonefur, graystripe, mistyfoot, mosspelt, whitestar, mousefur, and one-eye stay up all night to mourn him, graystripe and mosspelt thanking him for protecting and saving stormpaw and featherpaw, stormpaw stays up as long as he can to sit vigil with them, but is pressed by his sisters to come to sleep

-whitestar spends the whole night thinking about his lost cousin, hoping that him, mosskit, oakheart, and bluestar can finally be a family in starclan, and asks them to watch over and protect their kin and clans closely in the coming days

-Whitestar wakes up the next morning only being able to think about what the future of the clans was, what the future of his kits were, and also there was barely enough warriors in thunderclan to mentor all of these new apprentices, not to mention his own kits would be apprentices in just over a moon

-Goldenflower knocks sense into him saying that it’s more important to stop tigerstar and hopefully the riverclan cats would be able to go home soon enough, whitestar agrees and yellowfang mentions the prophecy that she and whitestar got at his leader ceremony “Fire alone will save the clan, but there needs to be proud wind and honorable thunder to summon the storms that will clear the shadows.” and that means that thunderclan and windclan need to stand together to be able to defeat tigerstar and his “clan”

-whitestar agrees, but the only way to get to windclan would be through fourtrees and tigerstar definitely has patrols patrolling at all times, so it would be hard to get through without being noticed, and perhaps that was part of tigerstar’s plan, either way he decides that he’ll go to windclan and talk to tallstar and decide what to do, thornclaw asks what will happen if tallstar decided to join tigerstar but whitestar retorts that tallstar would never, mistyfoot approaches and says that she will go with him, and yellowfang says she will go as well, perhaps if they come with cats who were raised in all of the other clans then it will be easier to persuade windclan to fight together, whitestar chooses longtail and thornclaw to come with them as back up in case they ran into a tigerclan patrol

-once the patrol makes it to fourtrees, tense and nervous even in their own territory, dustclaw suddenly appears on top of the Great Rock from behind it, snidely welcoming them and ask them what they’re planning on doing there, blackclaw, sunfish, clawface, and jaggedtooth come out from behind the great rock

-yellowfang snarls at the two former shadowclan cats, telling them that she watched them grow up and she thought they’d be good shadowclan warriors and here they are now, jaggedtooth spits at her, saying that they were better warriors then she ever was and ever could be, and twice as loyal than she was to anything

-mistyfoot hisses at blackclaw and sunfish, blackclaw replies that even her hiss is weaker since she’s a half-clan cat and he threatens to claw her until she begs for mercy, mistyfoot retorts that he’d be dead before he could even touch her

-longtail tries to appeal to dustclaw, asking him what their parents, robinwing and fuzzypelt would think of him, and what would their four dead siblings would think of him, and if he came back now maybe he could be an honorable thunderclan warrior again

-dustclaw snarls at him saying that longtail’s become kittypet soft just like the rest of thunderclan and would never recognize his greatness or tigerstar’s and that’s why thunderclan must be destroyed, whitestar growls and tells dustclaw that he wouldn’t let him back into thunderclan anyway, and that thunderclan’s business was none of his own, clawface snears that they both have 5 cats, but one of the thunderclan patrol was an old medicine cat and another was a weakened and frail queen, yellowfang and mistyfoot hiss and sunfish and jaggedtooth visibly flinch

-just as the patrols were about to clash, a hiss is heard from windclan’s side of fourtrees and tallstar and a patrol of onewhisker, whitetail, and tornear appear and they run down to fourtrees and meet the thunderclan patrol, the tigerclan patrol have a moment of worry until dustclaw shakes it off and asks tallstar “oh, are you looking for a couple of your warriors tallstar? icetail, eaglefoot, and hedgepaw?” “no, i’m pretty positive of where they are, dustpaw, i know they joined tigerstar’s group of rogues!” dustclaw’s fur bushes up and he gets defensive “i am dustCLAW now, tigerstar named me a warrior as soon as he became leader because at least appreciates me as a warrior!” tallstar sniffs and replies “he’s using you like he uses all of his other rogues” dustclaw snarls and seems to be about to pounce until he realizes again that the two patrols together almost doubled his patrol, even with an old medicine cat and worn out warrior, and claims that they’ll have the chance to tear them apart in time, until then they had to go report to tigerstar. The warriors are about to attack as dustclaw leaps down from the great walk and strides off towards shadowclan territory with his patrol, but whitestar tells them to halt, they needed to conserve their fighting energy and couldn’t risk anyone getting hurt right now

-tallstar asks if the patrol was coming to visit thunderclan and whitestar nods, tallstar says that barkface received a prophecy from starclan and yellowfang says it’s the same one that she and whitestar received, whitestar asks if this means that thunderclan and windclan will fight side by side then, and tallstar says that of course they would. The leaders decide that the two clans will meet the next morning at fourtrees just after sun has peaked over the horizon so tigerclan won’t have time to attack individually, but two clans being at fourtrees will definitely grab their attention and they would take on tigerclan from there

-once the patrol gets back to thunderclan whitestar starts explaining the plan to everyone, he offers goldenflower to stay in camp to protect his kits and the elders (mostly because he knows it must be hard for her knowing they would be fighting her ex-mate), but goldenflower refuses saying that she must battle alongside her clanmates

-whitestar asks willowpelt if she wants to fight, to avenge redtail and brindleface, but willowpelt says she wants to stay and protect the camp, to protect their kits, frostfur steps forward and says that she will fight as well, for lionheart, for her sister brindleface and her son brackenpaw, as well as the injuries tigerstar had caused her daughters

-rainkit and sorrelkit star calling saying that they want to go fight too, they don’t need to be protected they’re NEARLY apprentices, whitestar adors his little kits but tells them that they need to stay in camp and maybe willowpelt will teach them some fighting moves, mosspelt steps up and says that she’ll stay in camp as well, featherpaw says that she wants to fight in the battle and stormpaw says that if she fights he wants to fight as well, but whitestar refuses them as they had just become apprentices the day before tigerstar took over riverclan and hadn’t gotten enough battle training, primrosepaw says that they had been apprentices for a quarter moon longer than them, so they had gotten some battle training, whitestar thinks and then tells them that they need to guard the kits and elders, dappletail then retorts that she and the rest of the elders would rather die protecting the clan than die needing to be protected, so if anything were to happen the elders would fight till the end, halftail, one-eye, and smallear all heartily agree. Whitestar thinks about how the last time the elders had to battle to protect their clan that rosetail and thrushpelt had been killed, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop them, and if it came to it they wouldn’t have a choice anyway.

-Whitestar is about to tell tawnypaw to stay behind too, but she insists on fighting, she won’t sit in camp while her father tries to destroy the clans and featherpaw insists again and her fighting as well, whitestar decides that tawnypaw can join, but stormpaw and featherpaw will not fight, he gives them to responsibility of being runners, fetching injured cats and bringing them to yellowfang and bramblepaw who will be just outside of fourtrees to attend the injured and they will assist the medicine cats as needed, ravenpelt offers to help them and make sure they don’t get hurt

-whitestar starts worrying about how brightheart or cinderpelt would do in battle, as well as snowpaw, he asks brightheart first, telling her he’s unsure if she’s ready to fight when she had just recovered for about a moon, cloudpaw interrupts and says that brightheart could fight anyone and beat them and she’s been working will hard to train, cinderpelt, sandstorm, and fireheart agree, saying they’ve all been training very hard together and brightheart or cinderpelt could fight just as well as anyone, whitestar asks cloudpaw to fetch snowpaw and he comes back with both snowpaw and fernpaw, whitestar, using sign language, asks snowpaw if he felt comfortable fighting or if he’d rath stay and protect camp, snowpaw shakes his head and signs for “fight” and points towards fourtrees and then signs for “speckle” and “tail”, meaning he wants to fight for his mother, who died saving him from the fire that tigerstar and darkstripe started in thunderclan, fernpaw agrees that snowpaw can and will fight, and she’ll be with him and they’ll protect each other, cloudpaw agrees that he won’t let anyone hurt his clanmates, ashpaw chimes in that he will fight to avenge their mother and whitestar says that he had no doubt his apprentice was ready to battle

-whitestar realizes just how wide tigerstar’s wrath had spread, everyone in the clan had been personally effected, and decides that willowpelt, mosspelt, mistyfoot’s kits, and the elders staying behind to protect the camp will have to be enough, he leads a hunting patrol of longtail, mousefur, cinderpelt, and tawnypaw, and besides that patrol they take the rest of the day to rest and prepare, though most of the clan was too restless to truly rest, yellowfang was teaching bramblepaw the different healing herbs and making leaf bundles that they and stormpaw and featherpaw would carry to the battle, the warrior apprentices trained together with thornclaw and brightheart, whitestar gives ashpaw some last minute battle tips

-before the sun had risen the clan silently pelts to fourtrees, the wind is sadly against their back and when they arrive they see two pelts slink into the bushes, one towards riverclan and one towards shadowclan, whitestar signals for his clan to fan out and they line out in front of the thunderclan border so it would be harder for anyone to try to run into thunderclan and attack the camp, whitestar is suddenly very relieved to have goldenflower standing beside him, strong, proud, and ready to fight, frostfur, mousefur, mistyfoot, and longtail stood beside her, on whitestar’s right flank was sandstorm, fireheart, graystripe, and ravenpelt beside her, thornclaw, brightheart, cinderpelt, and the apprentices created a second line of defense behind them, the apprentices close behind their mentors. Whitestar checked behind him for ashpaw, he could see fear in his eyes and his scent, but his stance was strong and confident

-pink started lining the horizon and whitestar was starting to fear that windclan wouldn’t get there in time, or maybe not at all, he knew tigerstar would be aware of thunderclan being at fourtrees by now, he must be preparing and even on his way, but as soon as he thought that the bushes on windclan’s side of fourtrees started rustling and tallstar sped down the slope into the clear, a stream of windclan cats followed him and lined up in front of their border like thunderclan. Tallstar walked forward to the middle of the clearing and whitestar joined him, they both bowed their heads respectfully to each other. “I’m sorry I couldn’t greet you as a leader for the first time in a better situation, Whitestar. I know your leadership has already been hard, but I am positive Bluestar chose the right cat, and I am sure she is very proud of you and her clan and will be protecting you all, just as the rest of StarClan will watch over us.”

-Whitestar suddenly felt on the spot and guilty that he didn’t know tallstar as well as he should, “I know your leadership has not been easy at all, especially the past few seasons, I’m honored to be a leader with, and to fight alongside you and your warriors. Do you have warriors staying in camp to protect your camp?”

-Deadfoot steps forward and goldenflower suddenly pelts forward to be besides whitestar again, they both nod to each other respectively and then bow to the other leader, “Ashfoot is with our kit, crowkit in the nursery, Webfoot is also heavily pregnant with his own kits, and Robinwing just gave birth to Tornear’s and her daughter, Nightkit, yesterday. They’re all in camp with the elders, Morningflower has also stayed behind to protect them. Tigerstar’s rogues killed her son, Gorsepaw a moon ago in a border scuffle, but she’d rather be there to defend the kits and queens just in case. Whitestar apologizes and asks where their other apprentices were, he only saw warriors in their battle formation and tallstar says that as they had learned yesterday, hedgepaw and two warriors had joined tigerstar and tigerclan, and their other two apprentices were staying back outside of fourtrees with barkface to assist him and to fetch injured cats. Whitestar nods saying that they had two apprentices to help Yellowfang and Bramblepaw as well as to assist injured cats. In big battles like this it was a standard practice, but Whitestar was still glad that the two leaders had made the same strategies.

-Whitestar dips his head to his fellow leader and raises his voice so the rest of the cats could hear him, “May our clans fight alongside each other and lookout for each other. And may StarClan guide us well.”

-As soon as he finishes speaking the wind suddenly changes and a rush of ShadowClan and RiverClan scent swamps the clearing and soon countless pawsteps can be heard and then bushes on RiverClan’s side of the border start to rustle and Blackfoot steps through, Leopardstar close behind him, with many cats, most riverclan but with several shadowclan cats and rogues, following them. Then the bushes on ShadowClan’s side start rustles, shadowclan, riverclan, and rogues streaming forward into the clearing, and then finally, Tigertstar strides out from within his group of cats, darkstripe and dustclaw close behind. The large dark tabby stares down the leaders, not even looking at his former mate, who’s green eyes are now narrowed and her fur bristling, her claws already unsheathed and she’s obviously keeping in a snarl. “So,” Tigerstar oddly purrs, “Have the great leaders of ThunderClan and WindClan made their decision on joining my clan?”

Finale

“We already told you our answer, Tigerstar, our answer is no,” Tallstar responded cooly. Whitestar quickly glanced over all sides of the clearing, almost all the cats of every clan were there, including all of Tigerstar’s rogues and even ShadowClan elders; ThunderClan and WindClan were greatly outnumbered. Whitestar realized that Tigerstar had fixed his gaze onto him.

“And you? Great ThunderClan leader, Whitestar, the one I considered to be like a brother,” his eyes widened to look innocent.

Whitestar’s pelt bristled, “You are no brother of mine! ThunderClan would never join you. WindClan and ThunderClan will defend ourselves until the last breath!”

Tigerstar’s amber eyes narrowed and his claws unsheathed as he growled, “Then die.”

Before Tigerstar could wave his tail to signal his warriors to attack, a yowl came from RiverClan’s side of Fourtrees.

“No!” It was Leopardstar, her eyes filled with anger, her pelt bristled, and claws unsheathed. Tigerstar paused to look over to her, his eyes like fire and his teeth bared.

“Leopardfur!”

“No!” she repeated, her teeth now bared as well, “I am Leopardstar, and I am the leader of RiverClan. We will no longer be a part of TigerClan, I never should have agreed to it in the first place. We will night fight with you Tigerstar! You killed my deputy and dear friend, you held my mate, kits, and clanmates hostage! You brought rogues into my camp! You’ve disrespected and harmed my clan. We will night fight with you, but we will fight against you!”

Shock flooded through the RiverClan cats, as well as several hisses from the rogues and a few warriors, but most of the RiverClan warriors seemed to stand taller and confidently behind their leader. Relief flooded over Whitestar even as snarls, hissing, and yowls erupted from Tigerstar’s followers and rogues, but to his surprise many ShadowClan cats were looking confused or disheartened.

Whitestar had to do something, “ShadowClan! You don’t have to fight with Tigerstar. You can fight for what you know is right and you will be even more of a loyal ShadowClan warrior for it!”

Tigerstar’s lips drew back in a snarl, “You do not tell my clan what to do! They follow my orders and my orders alone, that is the warrior code!”

“You don’t care what the warrior code is!” Sandstorm hissed. Agreement rang across the clearing.

“Enough!” Tigerstar yowled, “I will no longer be merciful, you will all die for your betrayal to StarClan’s wishes and to destiny! TigerClan, attack!”

In an uproar cats from ShadowClan and RiverClan’s sides erupted into the clearing, clashing into WindClan and ThunderClan. Whitestar tried to keep track of where Tigerstar was, but in the flurry of battle, he could no longer spot his dark pelt.

I’ve been in plenty of battles before, but none like this.

Suddenly Whitestar’s breath was struck out of his body as a dark gray body slammed into him and claws sank into his fur. While Whitestar was trying to assess the battle, Darkstripe had taken the opportunity to attack.

“Finally,” Darkstripe’s breath was hot on Whitestar’s muzzle as he struggled to turn towards the striped tom, “I get to do what I’ve been wanting to do for moons!” Darkstripe’s claws raked down Whitestar’s side and he hissed in pain. Whitestar was a pretty decent fighter, but the surprise attack and the fact that Darkstripe was his kin and a former clanmate was making Whitestar struggle to fight back as hard as he could. He swiped at Darkstripe’s muzzle and beads of blood appeared, but Darkstripe was ruthless bit down into Whitestar’s shoulder, but barely missing his neck as Whitestar dodged. Darkstripe sunk his teeth deeper into Whitestar’s shoulder, blood running down his white pelt. Darkstripe wasn’t letting go and instead started thrashing his head. Whitestar yowled in pain, hardly able to combat the tom’s dirty attack.

Suddenly Darkstripe’s teeth were relieved from Whitestar’s shoulder and another thick gray pelt was beside him, a single thick darker gray stripe running down the back. Graystripe had tackled Darkstripe away from Whitestar and was now battering him with heavy blows. Graystripe, being bigger and heavier than Darkstripe easily overwhelmed him with blows.

“Get away from my father!” he yowled. Darkstripe hissed and lunged for Graystripe’s throat, but instead Graystripe’s unsheathed claws landed on Darkstripe’s and in one heavy slash, Darkstripe’s throat was sliced open and he fell to the ground. With his yellow eyes wide, he desperately tried to push himself to his paws, but before he could stand he fumbled back to the ground, soaked in blood. His eyes glazed over, empty with death. Whitestar tensed as he recognized his father’s dying eyes in the gray tom. They were exactly the same.

Though Whitestar was relieved, he couldn’t help but grieve for his half brother. If only you could have been better than our father. Graystripe stood over Darkstripe’s body, blood and scratches on his pelt. Whitestar realized he had never seen his son so injured, no battle in his life had been this hard and suddenly his grief moved to his son, who had never killed another cat in his life and had already lost so much, to now have killed his own kin, his own half brother.

To save my life. He saved my life.

Whitestar flicked his tail down his son’s pelt, “You didn’t have to do that, I have more lives than you, you could’ve been hurt,” Whitestar hesitated, suddenly feeling warm pride in his son, “But you saved my life anyway. You were so brave, my son you are a great warrior.”

Graystripe let out a loud purr, “I could never stand by and watch someone kill you!”

“And I would give all my nine lives for you,” Whitestar purred back.

Graystripe’s whiskers twitched in gratitude, and maybe a little embarrassment, then turned around and rushed back into battle.

I need to find Tigerstar. Whitestar thought, refocusing back to the battle surrounding him. Featherpaw and Stormpaw were rushing a RiverClan cat to Yellowfang and Bramblepaw. Mistyfoot slashed and grappled with Blackfoot across the clearing. She raked Blackfoot’s ears with her claws then grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the ground, mercilessly finishing him by ripping open his throat.

And as he deserves. Why should she show mercy when he didn’t when he killed her brother.

Leopardstar fought Blackclaw a few fox lengths away, slamming his shoulders into the ground. Suddenly Deadfoot was thrown a few tail lengths away from Whitestar; the ShadowClan warrior, Jaggedtooth, jumping to pin the older tom to the ground. Both cats were covered in blood, but Deadfoot was in much worse condition. Whitestar immediately threw himself at the ginger warrior, his search for Tigerstar would have to wait. Jaggedtooth stumbled away from the black tom as Whitestar’s weight knocked him aside. Whitestar hooked his claws into the tom’s shoulders, there were already wounds there and the ginger tom yowled in pain and tried to tear himself away. Whitestar slashed at his muzzle, Jaggedtooth went low to attack his underbelly, but Whitestar quickly spun around and kicked the tom directly in the skull. Dazed, heavily bleeding, and his jaw possibly broken, Jaggedtooth turned tail and fled from Whitestar and the battle.

Whitestar quickly turned his attention to the WindClan deputy, still heavily bleeding. He crouched down, trying to evaluate his wounds, “Don’t worry, old friend, the medicine cats will get you patched up,” Whitestar tried to gently purr and grazed his muzzle across Deadfoot’s. His one twisted paw seemed to be even more twisted than usual.

Deadfoot twitched his ears, “I know, I trust our medicine cats with my life. As well as StarClan,” he breathed heavily. Suddenly another black pelt, Ravenpelt, ran to Whitestar’s and Deadfoot’s side.

“Deadfoot!” Ravenpelt yelped and immediately started to move Deadfoot onto his back, “All the runners are already busy, I’ll take him to Barkface,” and with determination in his eyes, Ravenpelt dragged Deadfoot to the edge of the clearing. Whitestar felt such deeply imbedded pride in the young warrior who had once been the most timid kit he’d ever seen. Even though he still might not be in love with fighting, Ravenpelt was a truly courageous warrior of ThunderClan and Whitestar was extremely grateful to have him as his clanmate. He kept a watch to make sure no one attacked the two black cats before plunging back into the heat of battle.

Though things were simmering down; many bodies lay limp and lifeless on the floor of Fourtrees and very few of Tigerstar’s followers remained. A dark brown tabby pelt appeared at the top of the Great Rock. His amber eyes fiery and bright in the bright morning sun.

“Tigerstar!” Whitestar hissed, fury heated his pelt as he charged forward. No one got in his way as he halted in front of the Great Rock, “Tigerstar! Come down he and face the consequences of your war like a warrior!”

Tigerstar crouched down, almost as if he were bowing to his enemy, “As you wish, Whitestar,” and with a glisten in his eye he leapt off of the Great Rock and before Whitestar could realize-

The large tabby landed directly on Whitestar’s neck.

~~~

Whitestar awoke in a grassy field and immediately pushed himself to his paws. He anxiously looked around, expecting to see Fourtrees and countless cats fighting, but instead he was met with the starry figures of his late loved one: Bluestar and Snowfur stood in front of him, and Lionheart, Redtail, and Spottedleaf stood beside him.

Of course, he was in StarClan. Tigerstar had killed him, but Whitestar had a sudden rush of emotion and love seeing his mother, aunt, and friends once again.

“Mother! Bluestar!” Whitestar stepped forward and both of his mothers lovingly nuzzled him. He turned and Lionheart and Redtail both touched their noses to his, Spottedleaf licked his ear. Though he was overwhelmed with joy of seeing his loved ones, the feeling was soon washed away with anxiety, “I’m happy to see you again, but I need to go back. I still have eight lives, correct? Please, send me back, who knows what Tigerstar could be doing right now!”

“Please, Whitestar,” Snowfur mewed, “Your neck was just broken, please stay for just a few heartbeats as your body heals. I promise it will be okay, my love,” she began to lap at his ears as any mother would do to calm her kit.

His mother’s words calmed him a bit, as well as hit him with a wave of grief that he hadn’t been able to grow up with her to teach him and comfort him.

Bluestar nodded, “I know that it may feel like you’re here for a long time, but that’s only because you’re anxious, you know that when a leader loses a life they come back to life in just a few moments. No matter how long it feels here, in the living world you’ll only have been dead for a few heartbeats,” she purred.

Redtail twitched his whiskers, “You’re always patient for every cat except yourself!” he flicked his tail tip over Whitestar’s face, just as he’d done when they were warriors together and Redtail would tease him.

Whitestar jokingly cuffed his old friend’s ear, “But Redtail, you know better than anyone else how dangerous Tigerstar is!”

“Yes,” Lionheart answered, “but most of his followers are dead or have ran away, it is only him against all of the clan now,” he shared a playful and proud glance with Redtail, “You should know better than anyone else that your clanmates, and the other clans cats, are very capable and defending themselves.”

Redtail raised his head high, purring as Spottedleaf nodded and returned her gaze back to Whitestar, “You should be proud, Whitestar. You should be proud of everything you’ve accomplished, and everyone you’ve touched the hearts of,” she mewed.

“And not to mention you picked a great deputy!” Lionheart added triumphantly. Whitestar purred at Lionheart’s obvious affection and pride for his sister.

Redtail stepped closer to Whitestar again and touched his nose to his, his green gaze, which looked exactly like Sandstorm’s, now calmer and serious, but still full of affection, “Thank you, Whitestar,” he purred, “for everything you’ve done for me and my kin.”

As Redtail stepped away, Bluestar stepped forward and pressed her forehead to Whitestar’s, and Whitestar drew in her warm scent, just as it was when she was alive, “It’s time for you to go back Whitestar. Remember to trust your choices, to trust yourself and your clanmates. And remember that I named Sandstorm after you for a reason.”

~~~

When Whitestar opened his eyes his head and body pulsed with aches. He immediately stood and quickly took in the scene. What had he missed, how long was he in StarClan before he continued on his next life? Where was Tigerstar? But before he could get a clear focus his legs started to give. Goldenflower was quickly by his side and steadied him before returning a cold gaze down at her former mate.

Before Whitestar could give his deputy thanks, his vision finally cleared and he followed Goldenflower’s gaze. A few fox lengths away was Tigerstar. Fireheart’s claws were dug deep in his back and shoulders; the ginger tom’s green eyes were filled with more ferocity and anger than Whitestar had ever seen in them before. In front of Tigerstar was Sandstorm, fur risen, tail lashing, and her eyes full of hatred, spitting at Tigerstar. For a moment Tigerstar struggled to get out from Fireheart’s grip before seeming to give in, even though his expression still showed nothing but unwavering brutality. Howls, hissing, and growls filled the clearing. Cats closed in around the the fighting cats in a circle to get closer, some trying to get in their own swipe, but there wasn’t enough room.

“Kill him!”

“Slash his throat!”

“He’s a traitor among the clans!”

“And the warrior code!”

“Disgusting,” Tigerstar spat, “To be pinned by a kittypet and be guarded by a cat I once thought could be a fierce warrior. Allying yourself with the kittypet made you soft, Sandstorm. You can’t even kill me like a warrior can you? You’re just like your fathers! Weak, fragile, and too soft-hearted to be true warriors!”

Sandstorm bared her teeth, and with a yowl, reared onto her hind legs and slashed her unsheathed claws down Tigerstar’s eyes. Blood sprayed from his face as he let out a howl. Fireheart struggled to keep Tigerstar pinned down as he lurched upwards in pain.

“Don’t you ever talk about my fathers like that! They were better warriors than you could ever be in all your nine lives!” Sandstorm hissed.

Tigerstar snarled in her direction as he attempted to open his eyes, but there was nothing but blood, streaming down his eyes and face. He suddenly lurched to the side, tearing Fireheart’s claws off him and knocking him over with a roar. Sandstorm lunged for Tigerstar and snapped her jaws down directly on his throat. Tigerstar gagged as blood spilled onto the ground and down Sandstorm’s chin. Then she let go. Tigerstar’s body thumped onto the ground. Sandstorm stared down at his body. Her ferocity and hatred quickly faded into horror as she realized what she had just done.

Whitestar felt a wave of grief and sorrow. Not for the death of Tigerstar, but for his former apprentice. Sandstorm… You didn’t deserve any of this. This shouldn’t have been your burden to bear.

Whitestar glanced next to him at Goldenflower. He was steadier now so he took his weight off of her, but she didn’t move away. Her gaze was somber, but steady as she stared down at the ground in front of her paws. Whitestar knew that she didn’t want to look at her former mate’s dead body. And he also knew that she knew that it wasn’t over yet.

Fireheart rushed to Sandstorm’s side and Ravenpelt paced behind them. Sandstorm’s gaze cleared as she caught her breath and raised her head high.

“He’s dead!”

“StarClan couldn’t have possibly given someone like Tigerstar 9 lives, right?”

Leopardstar stepped forward from the crowd, her fur battered and bloody, matted onto her neck. She must have lost a life at some point during the battle.

“No. He was definitely given lives,” she addressed above the murmurs of the crowd, “I know because I killed him once. I took one of his lives trying to reclaim my clan,” She paused and gritted her, “His followers then took one of my own lives in revenge. And then when both Tigerstar and I came back he killed me again for his own personal revenge.”

Leopardstar stood strong against the eyes of the clans, but Whitestar heard the cracks in her voice. Some cats narrowed their eyes in suspicion, some murmured pity, and a couple growled or hissed in anger.

“How could StarClan give him lives!?” Bramblepaw’s yowl echoed across the clearing.

“Maybe he lost his last one, he hasn’t come back to life yet.”

“Yeah, Whitestar got back up almost instantly!” Ashpaw blurted, running up beside his mentor.

Runningnose pressed through the crowd. He looked older and sicker than usual. He stood beside Leopardstar and he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Tigerstar’s pelt rippled. Cats gasped and Fireheart pressed himself in front of Sandstorm and snarled, his claws unsheathed and ready to defend his mate.

Tigerstar let out a cough and blood spat out of his mouth. He rose to his paws, some wounds healed, at least enough, but blood still dripped from his face and mouth. He gritted his teeth and snarled, snapping his head from side to side. He kept his torn up eyes closed. He was blind. Cats yowled and hissed, some trying to move forward to get to Tigerstar, but before anyone reached him Tigerstar turned to face Whitestar and opened his eyes.

“Whitestar!” Tigerstar charged and then leapt for the ThunderClan leader, giant, unsheathed claws outreached. Whitestar was taken by surprise, but instinctively met his former close friend with his own outstretched claws. As Tigerstar’s claws sank into Whitestar’s shoulders, Whitestar’s forepaw slammed into Tigerstar’s still-wounded neck. Whitestar felt the strength of the entire forest rush through his legs and paws as his claws sank into Tigerstar’s throat and he slammed his body onto the ground. He felt and heard a crack as Tigerstar choked. Then his amber eyes went dull and blank as Whitestar stood on top of him.

The cats stayed quiet as Whitestar caught his breath and stepped away from Tigerstar’s body. He looked to Goldenflower, her lips drawn back in a snarl and claws unsheathed. Her face showed nothing but anger looking down at Tigerstar. Tawnypaw ran up from the crowd to press herself against her mother; Bramblepaw followed behind her more cautiously.

“I’m sorry,” Runningnose sniffed shyly, “I should have spoken sooner…” The cats around murmured, some even twitching their whiskers in amusement at the old medicine cat. “But I have an explanation. And I know I should have told ShadowClan sooner, I should have told anyone sooner. But I don’t think Tigerstar received his lives from StarClan.”

“What!?”

“How does he have lives then?”

“Who gave him lives?”

Runningnose cleared his throat and tried to speak above the chatter while also repeatedly glancing over to Tigerstar’s body nervously, “We never made it to the Moonstone. Tigerstar said that the entrance to Mothermouth was far enough for him, I tried to persuade him, but he just got angry. He fell asleep, but I couldn’t sense the presence of StarClan at all! But he kept twitching and grunting in his sleep, sometimes hissing and snarling. I was hoping that he was just having a bad dream instead of getting lives, but he apparently did, and they definitely aren’t from StarClan.”

“He would have been almost completely healed if they were from StarClan!”

“And he was dead way longer!”

“Why wouldn’t you tell us immediately!”

“Why would you keep a secret like that from your clan!”

“Wasn’t Runningnose raised with Brokenstar? How can we trust him!”

“What kind of medicine cat would do that?”

Runningnose shrank back in guilt and shame and was about to slink back into the crowd when Littlecloud ran up and Flintfang stepped forward.

“Runningnose is a great medicine cat!” Littlecloud defended his mentor, “No one would’ve been able to do anything! If he had said something Tigerstar would have banished him or even had him killed!”

“Littlecloud is right,” Flintfang growled, “Nothing like this has happened in anyone’s memory. Runningnose has done as much as he can just to keep ShadowClan alive! No one one would’ve been able to do better than he has!”

The cats all started murmuring and chattering again as Yellowfang walked through the crowd to stand beside Whitestar and her former apprentice, “I’ve only heard stories of this when I was a kit and my old mentor had mentioned it maybe twice in passing. But there may be something other than StarClan; a place where the worst cats go where they die instead of StarClan. A place of no stars, where light can barely filter into the forest. I believe the elders called it the Dark Forest. It could be entirely possible that they have the power to give lives just like StarClan,” she looked down at Tigerstar, “but perhaps are not as good at healing.”

“I remember that name!”

“I’ve heard some stories about that, but isn’t it just a nursery tale?”

“That’s why he didn’t want to go to the Moonstone!”

In the din Tigerstar’s pelt rippled once again. His wounds were crusted over with dried blood as he struggled to return to his paws. He couldn’t open his eyes. Whitestar took a step back. How many more times do we have to do this? Six? Do we have to just keep killing him over and over? What if he has more than nine lives from the Dark Forest?

“I’m not afraid to die! I’ll come back again and again. I’ll outlast you, I’ll outlast your kits and your kits kits! The clans will never be rid of my claws!” Tigerstar roared.

Goldenflower nudged her kits backwards into the crowd and then stepped forward. She stood in front of Tigerstar, her expression unreadable. Whitestar wanted to tell her to get back, but he had never seen Goldenflower like this and the words seemed to get stuck in his throat.

Tigerstar faced his former mate; his ears and whiskers twitched, “Goldenflower,” he purred, “Have you decided to join me? To choose your mate over your clan? I saw Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw before too. I’m glad you’ve all come to your senses.”

Goldenflower stayed quiet, her green gaze burning into the dark tabby. The rest of the clans had fallen silent, no one was sure what was going on or what to do.

“I’d die before I joined you,” Goldenflower murmured, “I’d die before I let my kits be influenced by you,” her lips pulled back in a snarl, “And I’d die before I let you, my former mate, the one I used to love and respect so much, hurt my clan, or any clan again!” She lunged forward, tucking her head under Tigerstar’s chest and shoving him backwards. Before he fell onto his back, Goldenflower aimed her strike, hooking her claws into Tigerstar’s throat and slamming him to the ground with full force. Tigerstar’s scabbed eyes shot open in shock as he choked in pain, blood gurgling out of his throat. Goldenflower then swiftly raked her claws from his throat down his chest and exposed belly. She stumbled backwards, bloody fur stuck in her claws as blood spurted from Tigerstar’s belly. His eyes had already gone blank as blood continued to spill from his body.

No one spoke. The entirety of Fourtrees was frozen except for the pool of Tigerstar’s blood. Tawnypaw and Bramblepaw stared in shock from the crowd. Ashpaw coward behind Whitestar. Leopardstar, Littlecloud, and Runningnose stood shocked, but Leopardstar looked vaguely impressed. Fireheart, Sandstorm, and Ravenpelt pressed against one another. Whitestar could only glance at Goldenflower before staring at Tigerstar’s corpse. His amber eyes flashing back to life, his pelt rippling and mouth gasping and choking before growing dull and lifeless again. Over and over again. Until he finally lay still forever.

Epilogue: After The Battle

Death Count:

A bunch of Tigerstar’s rogue and former kittypet followers

ThunderClan:

-Tigerstar: killed by Sandstorm and Fireheart, Whitestar, and Goldenflower

-Darkstripe: killed by Graystripe

-Whitestar lost a life

WindClan:

-Hedgepaw: Killed by one of Tigerstar’s allies when he tried to run away

-Icetail: Killed by his sister, Whitetail, and Onewhisker

-Deadfoot: he made it back to WindClan’s camp but died shortly after

-Tallstar lost a life

RiverClan

-Blackclaw (Tigerstar’s ally): Killed by Leopardstar

-Sunfish (Tigerstar’s ally)

-Beetlenose (Tigerstar’s ally)

-Leopardstar lost a life

ShadowClan

-Blackfoot (Tigerstar’s ally): Killed by Mistyfoot

-Clawface (Tigerstar’s ally)

-Nightwhisper (Tigerstar’s ally)

-probably a couple elders since Tigerstar made them fight

-couple of other warriors i don’t feel like finding names for

~~~

-It’s not even sunhigh when the battle is over, Whitestar sees Onewhisker carrying Hedgepaw’s body to the group of WindClan cats and prays to StarClan that unless he truly had darkness in his heart to allow him to hunt with them in their hunting grounds because he was too young.

-Tallstar approaches Whitestar and tells him that WindClan will be returning to their territory now, he wants to see how Deadfoot is doing and that he wants to make sure any injured can be treated by Barkface, and that they were glad to have help, Whitestar apologizes to the WindClan leader for his clan’s loses today, but Tallstar replies by saying that it was an honor to fight for the sake of the clans and to be allies with him and ThunderClan, he turns around, gathers his warriors, and leaves.

-Whitestar sees Graystripe leave Darkstripe’s body and ask Leopardstar if he can take Darkstripe’s body back to ThunderClan, he wanted to tell Willowpelt himself what happened. Leopardstar agrees as long as Whitestar is okay with it, she glances over to him “But I don’t think there’s any doubt he’ll let you.” Graystripe bounds over to Whitestar and before he even asks, Whitestar says yes, he may, and offers to help him carry their half-brother’s body, which Graystripe answers with a nod.

-Goldenflower, Tawnypaw, and Bramblepaw are gathered around Tigerstar’s corpse. Whitestar is about to go to them when his apprentice, Ashpaw, speaks up “Who’s going to take his body?” Whitestar says that ThunderClan will take Tigerstar’s body, as he was born and raised in ThunderClan, but he will be buried outside ThunderClan’s border. Flintfang steps forward and says that ShadowClan will take the bodies and bury them outside of their territory by Twoleg Place. Russetfur objects saying that he doesn’t have the right to make that decision for the clan and that there are almost as many dead rogues as there are ShadowClan cats. Flintfang says that they were technically ShadowClan cats at one point, so they will be taken away by ShadowClan. No one else objects

-Tawnypaw stands up from her father’s corpse and says that she wants to help ShadowClan bury the bodies, that she has decided that she wants to join them. Goldenflower is shocked and objects and Bramblepaw cries saying that he thought she wasn’t actually going to join ShadowClan like she once said she would in private. Tawnypaw looks to her mother and then to ShadowClan and she says that she felt like it was her duty as the daughter of Tigerstar to help heal ShadowClan and put her strength into them, helping them to be strong and become stronger.

-Russetfur and several others spit that they don’t want some ThunderClan brat joining them, that they don’t need ThunderClan’s help, ShadowClan was strong on its own. Littlecloud runs up and stands by Tawnypaw though, saying that any apprentice of Cinderpelt’s would be a strong and honorable warrior. Whitethroat agrees and Rowanpaw, from the back of the crowd, yells that if she joined that they could beat her up whenever they wanted to. Cinderpelt meets with Tawnypaw and Littlecloud and asks if this is really what she wanted to do and with grief in her eyes, Tawnypaw says yes. They all look to Whitestar and he says that she would basically have to start her training all over again, which Tawnypaw says that she knows and understands. Whitestar then says that if it’s truly what she wants then she doesn’t need his permission, it’s ShadowClan she needs to get the permission from.

-Flintfang hesitates, but then nods and agrees to take her in, and makes a remark, “And Russetfur, you can be her mentor; you know what it’s like being an outsider of ShadowClan coming in.” Whitestar thinks to himself that Flintfang would make a good and noble leader for ShadowClan. Several cats flinch, no one usually dares mention that Russetfur was once a kittypet that joined ShadowClan, but after a hiss at the gray tom, Russetfur only motions to Tawnypaw, “Fine, then earn your keep now and start helping to carry one of these bodies.” But before she runs off, Tawnypaw turns around and nuzzles her mother, brother, and now former mentor. She promises that they’ll see each other on patrols and at gatherings, and that maybe she’ll see Bramblepaw when he’s out gathering herbs by the ShadowClan border.

-Cinderpelt leans over to Littlecloud and asks him to please watch over Tawnypaw and thanks him, touching the tip of his ear with her nose and Littlecloud says of course, touching his nose to CInderpelt’s. ShadowClan, with all the bodies gathered, leaves for their own territory, the last thing that can be seen is Tawnypaw’s fluffed up, golden and brown tabby tail.

-Mistyfoot approaches Leopardstar, a wary awkwardness between them. Leopardstar’s eyes soften for a moment, a rare sight to see. Mistyfoot says that she’s going to fetch their kits and Mosspelt. Leopardstar’s eyes harden again, as if she’s suddenly aware that she had let herself soften and responds, “No. I want to fetch them,” them softens her tone, realizing that she started to harshly, “Mistyfoot, please take RiverClan back to camp for me.”

-Mistyfoot is shocked as well as the cats who were in earshot, but she nods and agrees, but then whispers to Leopardstar, “Only if they want to come back, Leopardstar.” Leopardstar shifts her paws and says of course.

-Stormpaw and Featherpaw say they want to come get them as well and Leopardstar hesitates and then agrees. Mistyfoot collects the RiverClan cats and they begin to leave as Leopardstar walks to Whitestars, slightly nods and tells him to take the lead. Whitestar says that Goldenflower can lead with Bramblepaw as they carry Tigerstar’s body and he and Graystripe will follow behind with Darkstripe’s. Leopardstar walks in step with him, Stormpaw and Featherpaw trotting behind their father. “Come, ThunderClan, we’re going home,” Whitestar says, he notices that Fireheart, Sandstorm, and Ravenpelt take the back, just behind Ashpaw, Fernpaw, Cloudpaw, and Snowpaw. Whitestar takes not on how brave all four of them had to be today, and notices with sadness that they all have blood on their pelts.

-On the way to camp, Leopardstar admits to Whitestar that she saw the cat, Sasha, running towards RiverClan territory, and that she expects she will be in their camp when she gets back. She says that she was Tigerstar’s mate and one of his closest cats, which Goldenflower, overhearing, visibly twitches her tail at. Bramblepaw’s fur raises. Whitestar asks her what she’ll do with Sasha if she is and Leopardstar replies that Sasha is a good cat and i snothing like Tigerstar, and that she believe she is expecting his kits, she would never turn away an expectant queen. Goldenflower is heard swallowing a growl and her ears are pinned back, while Bramble seems to shrink in his own fur.

-They reach camp and lay the two bodies in the clearing, the cats who stay behind swarm around the group of cats, Primrosepaw quickly asks where Mistyfoot is, fearfully. Leopardstar consoles them that their mother is fine and took RiverClan home and that everything should be back to normal soon. Or as normal as it can be. Pikepaw says he wants to go home right away, his siblings and Dawnpaw agreeing.

-Graystripe tells Willowpelt what happened with Darkstripe and then steps away to let her grieve over her older son. Whitestar can tell that he feels worried about something when Graystripe cautiously approaches him. They go under the Highrock and Graystripe asks Whitestar if he can rejoin ThunderClan. His kits are apprentices now and he trusts Mistyfoot, Mosspelt, and whoever will train Stormpaw next to take care of them. He says that he has never felt like a RiverClan cat and that every moment he’s in RiverClan he misses ThunderClan. It doesn’t feel like a home, he can’t be a good warrior there.

-Whitestar feels both pity, joy, and worry. He would take his son back in a heartbeat, but he looks over to Frostfur and her kits, then Sandstorm, and then back to Graystripe. Would they ever be able to forgive him for neglecting Brackenpaw and that leading to his death? If I show that I trust him, they will.

-Whitestar nods, but warns that he’ll have to work twice as hard to gain the rest of his clanmates’ trust back, but Graystripe gleefully says of course and then bounds over to Willowpelt and his younger brothers and sister to tell them, then, more solemnly heads towards the RiverClan cats.

-Stormpaw and Featherpaw are absolutely dejected. Mosspelt’s face turns hurt and sad and says that she had a feeling he would decide this. Leopardstar says that she knew he would decide this for moons now. There is hesitancy and side eyes from a few ThunderClan cats. Graystripe confronts his kits and tells them that they don’t need him anymore, they’re apprentices and are RiverClan through and through, if he were to stay in RiverClan he would just be a reminder that they’re half ThunderClan to their entire clan and he felt like they wouldn’t get the respect they deserve. He says that he’ll always be there for them if they need him though and that he’ll always be their father and that he loves them so much and he knows that so does their mother who will always watch over them in StarClan. Mosspelt rubs her muzzle to his and whisper to him that he’s a good cat and a good father, giving him a look with a glow of love in her eyes. Graystripe says thank you and then presses his muzzle against both of his kits and licks them both between the ears before turning back to Mosspelt and asks her to take care of them. They both say of course.

-The apprentices all say goodbye, Stormpaw and Featherpaw especially take a moment to say goodbye to Willowpelt and her kits. Leopardstar walks over to Whitestar and whispers her thanks for taking care of them all and tells him that he’s a good leader. Whitestar nods and says of course, and that she’s a good leader as well. Mosspelt says her thanks as well and then the RiverClan cats leave to return to their home.

-Fireheart and Ravenpelt pounce onto Graystripe in a welcome back. Sandstorm staying more to the side, but affection for the gray tom can be seen in her eyes and she nods to him. Rainkit and Sorrelkit jump onto Graystripe’s back for a badger ride. Graystripe can hardly stand up with both of the kits on his back.

-The elders, Willowpelt, Goldenflower, and Bramblepaw all take Tigerstar and Darkstripe to be buried just outside of ThunderClan’s border and Whitestar sends a patrol of Longtail, Mousefur, Thornclaw, and all four of the warrior apprentices to go hunting. After the burial patrol returns, the hunting patrol returns with jaws full of prey. Newleaf is surely almost here.

-After everyone eats their fill and Yellowfang and Bramblepaw were able to treat everyone’s injuries, Whitestar calls for a clan meeting. He tells everyone that he’s so proud of ThunderClan and all of the clans for their victory over Tigerstar and that he hopes that after this their can be peace in newleaf. He says that in celebration, their warrior apprentices are ready to become warriors. He calls on Ashpaw, Fernpaw, Snowpaw, and Cloudpaw. He says that they were all so brave during the battle and then to come home and almost immediately go out and bring back fresh-kill for their clan. They were true warriors. He turns to Ashpaw first and says that he was so proud to be his mentor, and names him Ashfur. Then asks Longtail if Fernpaw was ready to be a warrior and when he says yes, says that Fernpaw is graceful and compassionate and names her Ferncloud. Then he asks Frostfur if Snowpaw is ready to be a warrior and when she says he is Whitestar says, while also signing to Snowpaw, that he is patient and intelligent and from this moment forward he will be named Snowears. And then finally Whitestar asks Fireheart if Cloudpaw is ready to be a warrior and after Fireheart says yes Whitestar says that Cloudpaw is passionate and confident and from this moment forward he will be named Cloudtail.

-ThunderClan chants the new warriors’ names, and some even sign the names for Snowears.

-Whitestar apologized to Bramblepaw since he’ll be the only apprentice now, but then Sorrelkit announces that she and her brother can be apprentices with him, but Whitestar refuses, saying that they still have to wait about another moon.

-The sun sets on the clans. They are rid of the evil that was Tigerstar, and are full of promise for a happy future.

#warrior cats #warrior cats rewrite #my rewrite #decatssi #decatssi arc 1

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gingerakao · 2 years

Text

Squirrelpaw causes a revolution AU

Brambleclaw woke up slowly. Yesterday was a long day, full of hunting, gathering moss and sticks for nests and trying to find another Moonstone or a different way to communicate with Starclan.

So much have changed. After their first home was destroyed by the twolegs and their monsters, all four clans had to leave. There was a chance all of them could have died because of Leopardstar, Hawkfrost and Blackstar but luckily for them, Squirrelpaw was able to unite the clans with the help of Mistyfoot and Tawnypelt and leave the two leaders and deputy to themselves. During their travel, proud Leader of Windclan, Tallstar, has lost his last life leaving the clan in Mudclaw's paws to take care of.

Three of the four clans needed their temporary leaders to gain their leader names but without Moonstone, everything is pointless.

Brambleclaw sighed and thought about trying to get a little bit more sleep. He was tired but also knew every paw was needed.

He opened his eyes slowly, smelling his clan mates scents.

It was quiet.

He couldn't smell or hear them.

With pupils blown wide, he started looking around. There were nothing but black, dead trees. There was no light shining though the branches, there was no sun. Brambleclaw stood up and looked around. He was alone.

"Hello?" - he shouted into the air confused. No one answered. Brambleclaw started looking around, trying to find any clues about his whereabouts but to no avail. Wherever he looked, everything looked the same. Dead trees, hard black earth, no prey or cats.

Suddenly Brambleclaw heard a rustle. He turned around and saw him. Tigerstar. He looked almost the same as when he was alive, except for a few details. The wound that killed him, that took all nine of his lives was open and blood dripped slowly onto the ground, staining Tigerstar's paws red, he looked thin, as if he hasn't eaten in days.

"Brambleclaw... My son.." - Tigerstar looked proud - "I'm so happy to see you again!"

Brambleclaw stayed quiet. He had no idea what to do, what to say. Where was he?

"You're here. We can spend time together again! But now, no one will intervene, Firestar can't walk here..." - Tigerstar started mumbling, looking crazier and crazier with every word spoken - "Come son, I have so much to teach you! With my guidance, you and your brother can rule the forest! Come! Quickly!"

"What?!" - Brambleclaw shouted and bristled - "Teach me? The only thing you taught me is to never trust you! Never listen to you!"

"You want to become a leader, Brambleclaw"

Brambleclaw froze. That was the truth. He wanted to become a leader of Thunderclan. To guide his clan, serve his clan and see it grow. But how could Tigerstar, a cat long dead, that has never spent any time with his kits know any of that?

"H.. How do you know? You don't know me.." - Brambleclaw whimpered. He felt trapped, as if standing right in front of a dog with no way out.

"You are my son.. It's in your blood to want power. You rule over the weak. Hawkfrost is the same" - answered Tigerstar. He watched Brambleclaw - "And I know how to gain the leader's title. I can help you become someone powerful, someone feared. No one will question your decisions! No one will disobey you. You just have to follow my lead..."

"No."

".. No?" - Tigerstar looked surprised.

"No" - Brambleclaw looked at Tigerstar with no fear in his eyes - "The only way for me to become a leader is for Firestar to choose me as his deputy. He won't do it for now, and that okay."

"But with my guidance -!"

"I'll end up in here after death!" - Brambleclaw shouted - "And seeing your miserable state, I know it's not a good place"

Tigerstar went quiet. He looked at Brambleclaw as if seeing him for the first time. Time passed, but Brambleclaw doesn't know how much, everything seemed frozen. Tigerstar hissed and bristled, but didn't attack. Instead he turned around.

"... You'll come crawling back to me.. Mark my words.. " - He hissed and left, disappearing in the thick fog.

Brambleclaw stayed frozen. Suddenly, he saw a bright light coming from his right. Without thinking, he started running. The closer he was, the more alive the trees looked.

"Brambleclaw!" - He woke up with a gasp. His heart raced and he could hear blood in his ears. - "wake up Brambleclaw, you're supposed to lead morning patrol!" - shouted Cloudtail from the entrance of the warrior's den. Brambleclaw took a deep breath and exhaled.

That was a weird dream. He should talk with Firestar.

=======================

It's done! A small ficlet for an idea I had somw time ago. If you want to learn more about this AU, click the links!

#brambleclaw #warrior cats #tigerstar #cloudtail #firestar #squirrelflight #warrior cats au #Squirrel's storm AU

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away-from-anthills · 3 years

Text

chapter two-

(prologue) (chapter one)

“Let all cats, old enough to catch their own prey…”

“Already?” muttered Stoatslink. A dash of doubt sat behind the white tom’s yellow eyes. “It’s been almost too soon for Shalestar to make a decision…”

Stoatslink’s tone stuck on Antstep like a burr. Had it been too soon? No- Shalestar had to know what he was doing. Antstep knew of Shalestar’s wisdom more than he knew of his own nest.

“Who do you think it’s going to be?” Russetfoot padded up next to him, his red tabby shoulder touching Antstep’s solid dark brown one. “I’d bet on Shadeflower, personally-“ -he beckoned with his tail to the dark gray tabby molly that sat at the edge of the nursery- “-but I think my brother could do a good job. My mate, too- but she wouldn’t want to follow her brother’s footsteps.”

Stripedwing and Rainleap had been close as kits, but had naturally drifted apart over time. She wanted to be a tunneler, and lacked ambition; he wanted to be a moor runner, and had had his sights on leadership since apprenticeship. There were no hard feelings between either of them- and Antstep recalled a dawn patrol not long ago where Rainleap said he intended to share tongues with his sister more.

Antstep had felt an envy towards Rainleap then. Rainleap, at least, had a sibling. Antstep had none.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Antstep realized Russetfoot was waiting on an answer from him. “So? What do you think? Did Shalestar tell you anything when he asked for you?”

“I- uh-“ Antstep tried to stall the conversation- but thankfully, Shalestar was already about to begin, and Russetfoot’s eyes had left Antstep to focus on the old scarred blue-gray tom.

“I realize it has been only a short while since I announced the loss of Rainleap to the Clan. However, we must follow the Warrior Code- even in unprecedented situations like this. I promised a new deputy by moonhigh, and my Clan shall get one. I have come to the conclusion of which WindClan member shall become your next deputy. I ask only that you be kind to him. He may not be an obvious choice, but with a bit of experience as deputy, he will learn quickly.”

It felt as all the Clan were eyeing each other. Half of Antstep wanted to puff out his chest with pride. The other half, meanwhile, wanted to shrink inwards and disappear.

“I say these words now, before StarClan, so our ancestors- Rainleap among them, now- may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of WindClan… is Antstep.”

There was a silence of deliberation for a moment, and then a gasp or two. Molethroat and Cherrycloud, who were near the back of the sandy hollow by the nursery, seemed to approve. Rockscratch and Russetfoot seemed to be in what Antstep could only assume was awe. He had never felt what it was like to cause awe before.

But there was a tense feeling among some of the others. Talonscar, their eyes still dimmed from mourning their former apprentice, sat in silence, shifting their weight from one paw to another. Sandwhisker looked pleased, but even she seemed to have some doubt about Shalestar’s choice, despite being particularly close to him. Antstep flattened his ears against his chestnut-colored fur as he scaled the rock to stand besides his leader.

“Again, I know he is perhaps not what you expected. But I mentored him myself, and it was I who brought him to WindClan when he was but a kit. I feel like I know Antstep particularly well- he reminds me of myself, when I was about his age. And I was about his age when Marigoldstar elected me as deputy, back before many of you were even born. It may take him a while to learn the ropes as deputy- but when he gets the hang of it, I promise you, he shall be a great deputy- and, perhaps… a great leader, once I pass on.”

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Antstep felt his spine coil. That sharp voice belonged to only one cat in the Clan- Sparkthistle. The ginger molly, with bright stripes and a snout that turned slightly upwards, pushed her way to the front of the hollow. “You’re telling us, Shalestar, that you’re replacing Rainleap with this sad sack? He’s not even a proper WindClan cat! He’s just your pet project! There’re so many cats in this Clan- and you choose that excuse of a warrior? He can’t even manage his own apprentice, let alone-“

“Sparkthistle, I am your leader,” Shalestar commanded, a fleck of anger on his tongue. “If you have any complaints, you can talk to me or Whitetooth in the morning.”

Sparkthistle opened her mouth as if she had something more to say- but, she began to flounder, and the shrewish molly backed away into the crowd. Cherrycloud rather embarrassed on Sparkthistle’s behalf, slinking back into the nursery den with Molethroat beside her.

“Meeting dismissed. Webwhisker, Stoatslink, remember it is your duty to keep guard over the camp tonight.”

As WindClan retreated to their dens, and Webwhisker and Stoatslink climbed the walls of the sandy hollow to assume the night watch, the coiled nervousness in Antstep’s belly began to loosen. He left the Tallrock and flexed his claws into the sand below. The moon- which was at the very center of the sky- looked downward upon him, and the hollow was filled with a certain stillness. The cicadas and crickets sang in the distance, and a curious hope began to flow through Antstep’s veins as his amber eyes locked with the moon’s pale one.

I’m WindClan deputy now… it’s my chance! They’re going to finally love me! I’m going to be the best deputy I can be…

It dawned on Antstep that he was not the only one there. He turned to see Whitetooth. The WindClan medicine cat seemed as if they were still analyzing him. They were nearly all white- the color of slightly stale milk- except for their ears, a spot or two on their back, and their tail, which was plumy and brown like a female pheasant.

“I look forward to our partnership and- if you’ll allow me to say it- friendship, Antstep,” they said simply. “As deputy and medicine cat. If you ever need anything- all you have to do is ask.”

Antstep nodded. Even the medicine cat wants to be my friend!

As Whitetooth slunk into their medicine den, where Marblepaw was already fast asleep, Antstep contemplated. He climbed the edge of the sandy hollow- away from Webwhisker and Stoatslink’s positions- and looked towards the east, where the sun would rise and where the marigolds grew.

As sunlight crept into the clearing the next day, Antstep immediately began to try and plot out what his first patrol would be. This was, after all, one of the most important deputy duties. He had to get it just right. Suddenly, the confidence he had had earlier dissipated. What will the Clan think of me if I’m not able to plan this out right? They already hate me, don’t they…

“Well, you may be a good hunter- but I’m far better!”

“You’re not!” “Am too!”

There was a squeal as Twigpaw, in the heat of this little spat, launched himself onto Spiderpaw, grabbing onto her shoulder. However, she was too quick. The dark gray tabby molly shook herself, and Twigpaw let go as soon as he had latched on. She then jumped over and pinned the smaller brown tabby tom onto the sandy earth. As he grunted and tried to free himself, she stood triumphantly.

“Spiderpaw, let him go,” Antstep instructed. She gave it a moment of thought, and- after pushing down on Twigpaw for a moment- let him go. He stuck his tongue out at her.

“Well, just remember, Twigpaw- my mom’s the leading queen and my mentor’s the deputy.”

“Don’t let it get to your head,” warned Antstep, curling his paw around her feet to make sure she didn’t jump back out at him. “If I mess up too bad, you wouldn’t want to even look at me, now, would you?”

“Depends,” she said slyly, her lips curled upward like the biting adder. “But it means I have two on Twigpaw.” She grinned. “Hey, maybe when you’re leader, you could make my mom Shadeflower your deputy! Then Twigpaw won’t even be able to lay a paw on me.”

“Don’t get too ahead of me,” said Antstep. “It’s my first day. …Say, would you like to go on the dawn patrol this morning? You haven’t been out on it in a while.”

Spiderpaw nodded enthusiastically. Antstep felt proud of himself- but then the worries began to nip at his paws again. There’s no way that’s going to work! They’ll all think I’m favoring my own apprentice over the others! What other apprentices are there… Goldenpaw was on patrol just yesterday… Maybe Milkpaw or Coalpaw?...

“You’re up early,” yawned a sleek blue-gray tom. His shadow was identical to Shalestar’s; however, he was a tad shorter and far younger. A white bib-shaped marking covered his chin and chest.

“Oh. Hello, Toadpool,” said Antstep, nodding to acknowledge the blue-and-white cat’s presence.

“I think you’re going to do just fine as deputy.”

“Wh- what makes you say that?” said Antstep. Was his anxiousness that obvious already?

“Deputy jitters,” explained Toadpool, shrugging. “Everyone gets it. Even Grandpa told me that he had them. You’ll do just fine- I trust his choices, after all.”

Toadpool was right. Shalestar had a good head on his shoulders, and neither of them had a reason to doubt him.

“I’m trying to figure out the dawn patrol,” explained Antstep. “I was thinking Spiderpaw and your apprentice Milkpaw could take it this morning. Would you- uh- like to come along?”

“Sure! But you don’t have to ask, you know. Deputies usually just kind of say who’s going on patrol or not.”

Right. Antstep already felt hot embarrassment on his face.

“I have an idea. I can come with you and try to calm your nerves a bit. We can bring our apprentices, too. Maybe you could also take Rockscratch and Sparkthistle? I know you don’t like Sparkthistle and she doesn’t like you, but maybe you could talk it out…”

It was a naïve suggestion. But Antstep didn’t have the heart to tell Toadpool that.

“Sure.”

“Great! I know Grandpa will give you some tips and stuff, but I can tell you if there’s anything I know. And we can train our apprentices together.” He looked over to where Spiderpaw was- she was busy chasing down a centipede that had weaseled its way into the den. “Be careful of her,” he joked. “She’ll eat you alive.”

“Takes a brave one to be her mentor,” Antstep joked back, puffing out his chest with pride.

The sun’s lazy red eye began to peer over the earth, and Antstep’s first patrol slithered through the WindClan grass. It was a quiet morning, and the world seemed as though part of it had stood completely still since Rainleap’s death. Dew stuck to their pelts as they schlepped themselves along the trail.

“If Rainleap were here…” said Sparkthistle in the back of the small group, muttering something off-key to herself. Rockscratch, who was just in front of her, distanced himself.

But Antstep tried to keep his worries behind him, crowded around Sparkthistle instead of wandering to his head. It was his first day, after all. Anything could happen. He could worry later, with the comforts of Shalestar and Whitetooth there to listen.

Spiderpaw ran up to him with a fat mole in her mouth. “Look!” she said, in the muffled way cats do when their mouths are crammed full. “Milkpaw showed me how to catch it. You have to feel their tunnels beneath your paws, and you gotta have the right timing. She told me it’s a tunneler skill. Maybe I should show you how, someday…”

Antstep watched Toadpool sign a joke to Milkpaw, who responded with throaty laughter. He didn’t get the punchline- it was something to do with tunneling, which he had never been familiar with- but he began to think. Why hadn’t Shalestar chosen Toadpool? Shalestar was also fairly close to Toadpool, and had watched him grow up in a similar way as he had with Antstep, although the leader had not mentored him. Toadpool even had something Antstep did not: Toadpool was the son of one of Shalestar’s children, who had perished in that forest fire around the time Antstep had been found by a WindClan patrol.

But then it truly sunk into him, as he watched Toadpool and Sparkthistle converse. He was trying to let her on in the joke, but she responded with overdone apathy, flattening her ears tight like they were strapped to her skull to get him to shut up. Toadpool was too ineffective; too naïve. Tatteredstar and Pigeonstar could tear him apart with one word.

He would make for a great friend. Perhaps a deputy- but as a leader? He would fall apart like dried leaves in a fire, up there on that Great Rock.

Antstep knew Shalestar had to have chosen him for a reason.

But he couldn’t think of what that reason was.

The next few days went by with little incident. Patrols were organized; patrols were sent. Occasionally, when he was out with them, Antstep would see the wandering eye of RiverClan or ShadowClan cats, from deep within their own territories.

Did they notice a change?

Could they tell something was different?

Antstep did not know what he wanted the answer to those questions to be.

The camp was quiet. Besides his few friends, Antstep found himself once again a stranger in his own- or was it ever his own?- land. Perhaps the death of Rainleap weighed his Clan down too much still- this is what Antstep wanted to believe. But there was always this great, nagging feeling that sat on Antstep’s haunches- do they like me enough? What if they hate me? What if, on the night I become leader, they’re all going to kill me together? What if-

But Antstep tried to take solace in the fact that Shalestar was always there. Shalestar knew what he was doing. Shalestar would teach him all he needed to know. He’d learn.

It was a briar that shattered that thought.

It was an overcast day- the kind of overcast where the clouds look like a big, unraveling blanket; the kind of overcast that makes your head feel heavy with the promise of an oncoming storm. Antstep was taking a few of the apprentices out into the heart of the moors to learn some hunting techniques.

“Now, the key to catching a good rabbit is to know what way to chase it,” Antstep said. “Some of you have caught one of them before. And that is very good! But you need to have a plan.”

“You could raid a rabbit nest,” said Spiderpaw, in that sort of smart-alecky way that was practically her second language. “Bunch of little rabbits in there right for the taking.”

“Ah, but what about rabbits who live in burrows? And what about getting the proper taste of grown rabbit meat?” That- and Antstep always felt a bit of pity, raiding nests and newborns like that. He assumed an almost exaggerated posture and tried to project his voice towards them. “What you have to have is a plan. You have to know how to corner it. The rabbit’s always going to run away from you, and it’ll outrun you nearly all of the time. What you have, that the rabbit doesn’t, is strength in numbers. You need to drive it towards your Clanmates and pounce from all sides.“

The apprentices nodded in unison.

“Now- look, there’s one now. All of you, position yourselves here. Crouch down and hold steady. I’m going to chase it here, and when I give the word, leap.”

Antstep hunkered himself down into the grasses and slunk around it in a great circle. The rabbit turned its head, and for a short moment there was stillness between the two. Then it bounded away, slowly gaining momentum as Antstep broke into chase. Faster and faster, becoming rhythmic with the land below and the sky above- until Antstep recognized the shapes of the apprentices ahead, hiding below patches of Queen Anne’s Lace.

“Now!”

Goldenpaw and Twigpaw leapt from one way, and Spiderpaw and Coalpaw from another. Goldenpaw grabbed onto its chest and pulled it to the earth, Twigpaw grabbed its head by the front of its throat and pushed it back as far as he could. Spiderpaw grabbed its midsection, and Coalpaw pinned the legs to the earth to prevent the leporid from kicking further. There was a struggle, there was a finality, and then it was gone, as if the soul had slipped straight out of the meat.

“Very well done! Now, you see how I made sure to go in a big circle around it? That’s so it’s tricked into running this direction. If I went right towards it, it’d run away. If I went at it from the side, it’d run away. I’m going to show all of you how to chase rabbits one by one. Hopefully, we’ll make more successful catches, and we’ll have plenty to restock the fresh-kill pile with by the time we return to camp around sundown.”

He took the corpse of the freshly-killed rabbit with him, straddling it with his front legs, and the group quietly moved to another location a bit north of where they initially where. “Now, be careful,” said Antstep. “There’s a briar patch over there- the rabbit’s going to be smart enough to avoid it, so we must plan around it.” He pointed his tail towards where a big, bracken-colored mass of twisted thorny branches lay. The apprentices nodded- but not without Spiderpaw whispering a joke to Goldenpaw about how likely it’d be that Coalpaw or Twigpaw would get themselves tangled in it.

They can handle it.

There was the sound of a soft crunching of plant stems in the distance.

“There’s another,” said Antstep. “Here. Coalpaw, come with me.”

Coalpaw was bigger and heavier than the other apprentices- a cat built for fights, but not so much the hunt. Antstep figured he could go first, as he might take longer to learn the speed and stealth involved with rabbit-hunting. Antstep hunkered down again, Coalpaw followed, and carefully, slowly, the circled back around to the rabbit. Just like last time, they gave chase, and the two cats started to herd the rabbit. Antstep felt his paws go faster and faster, his muscles slowly easing to let sheer momentum swing his feet, the earth moving below him.

“Now!”

He leapt onto the rabbit, and again the other three apprentices leapt, there was a moment of struggle, a moment of release, and then Twigpaw and Spiderpaw declaring victory.

Antstep felt very, very pleased with himself until he heard a voice behind him.

“Help me! Antstep! Help!” He turned to see Coalpaw. Evidently, during the chase, the young tom had tripped himself on a pebble and sent himself flying into the briar patch, where he lay now. He was not particularly stuck, but Antstep could see he needed someone to pull him out.

“Hold on, Coalpaw, I’m…” He got a good look at the briar patch. The earth below it was lower than the rest of the ground, and there was a definite incline between the two surfaces. If Antstep were to pull out Coalpaw, he’d need to watch his step.

“I’m coming. Here, Goldenpaw, hold onto my back foot.”

He felt Goldenpaw grip his back ankle with her teeth. He grimaced at the feeling for a moment, and then leaned over the edge into the briar patch. He grabbed onto one of Coalpaw’s legs.

“Shut your eyes and make yourself go limp, so the branches don’t scratch as much.”

Coalpaw did so, and then Antstep thrusted him out in one quick motion. But as he did, he felt Goldenpaw suddenly let go of him on accident. Coalpaw managed to scramble out onto the grassy pathway as Antstep plunged into the briar patch backwards and belly-up.

Dammit!

Antstep wriggled himself back and forth to try and get back upright, but the briars further tightened around him. He clenched his teeth, trying to thrash himself free, but he only slunk deeper and deeper into the briar patch. Panic seized him as he watched the apprentices crowd around to watch their own deputy make an absolute fool of himself.

And then, finally, he gave up.

“Twigpaw, can you send for a patrol?”

“Well, well. Look who got himself stuck,” said a familiar unenthused voice. It was Sparkthistle, accompanied by Webwhisker and Emberheart. “Our own deputy can’t even get himself out of a stack of twigs.” “It’s a bit more than that,” said Webwhisker, cringing with sympathy.

“Here.” Emberheart slowly nosed her way into the briars and grabbed Antstep’s right foot. “Sparkthistle, you get the other one. Webwhisker, help us pull him out.”

Sparkthistle hesitated, and then grabbed Antstep’s left foot. The two mollies yanked him free- Sparkthistle a bit more forceful- and Webwhisker pushed him as soon as they had pried out his torso. Antstep flipped over onto his feet, his head dizzy from having been upside down.

“You’ve got a lot of scratches from it,” said Webwhisker. “You should see Whitetooth, I think.”

“For just that?” snarked Sparkthistle.

“I worry about it getting infected, that’s all.”

“It is rather bad,” Emberheart said as she inspected Antstep’s flank. “He’s lucky his ears and eyes are in one place.”

Great- I’m not even leader yet and I’m already incompetent enough that I nearly lost my eyesight!

“I can continue on with the apprentices,” offered Webwhisker. The two mollies waited to see Antstep’s reaction; he responded with a nod after some contemplation.

And so, Antstep, Sparkthistle, and Emberheart walked back to camp.

“’Tis not too bad,” said Whitetooth, inspecting Antstep’s myriad of scratches as they wrapped him in cobwebs. “You shall be on your feet within a couple of days. But it is important you rest so infection does not begin. Lie down on the nest Marblepaw prepared for you on the right. Avoid Shalestar, you don’t want him to give you illness.”

“Illness? Shalestar?” Sure, Antstep had noted the leader was a bit slow the past few days, but he hadn’t ever noticed he smelled of sickness. He watched as Marblepaw- a little brown tabby molly, nearly identical to her brother Twigpaw- carefully inspected the sleeping leader, who’s eyes were crusty and who’s fur had became oily from a lack of cleaning himself.

“Mild whitecough, with fever. We have enough tansy for it, but it is worrying given his age. …May I talk to you in private?”

The two cats exited the medicine cat den and sat on the edge of the sandy hollow. Droplets of rain began to fall from the sky, speckling the earth.

“…I suspect that Shalestar may not be long for this world. He may leave us sooner than he expected to.”

Antstep felt something inside himself, black and shivering, begin to coil. “You mean-“

“…This is mild whitecough, and it’s wrecked him. If he doesn’t pass of this- something else is going to come along, and it will be far, far worse.”

Antstep felt like he was going to vomit. He couldn’t even match wits with briars- and now, less than a moon since Rainleap died, less than a moon since he had become deputy at all, before he had even attended a Gathering, here he was. It felt as if a great shadow stood over him, one that only he could feel, who bristled the fur on his spine and clamped its paws on his shoulders.

“… What shall we do? I- I can’t be leader now! I barely got to be deputy! What will the Clan think? What will the other leaders think? What if they think I killed him? I can’t have that on my record, I can’t-“

“Calm yourself, Antstep.” Whitetooth’s voice was deep but smooth, like thick greenleaf tree-sap. “Take heart. You are not the first or the last cat to become leader on such short notice, and I am sure the other leaders will understand as will our Clan. Elsewise- I will be here for you. You know me to be very compassionate.”

The first thunders of a storm began to rumble in the distance.

“Please trust me, for the good of the Clan. …Now, rest. If our beloved leader passes within the next few days from this illness, take solace in that you will be there for him.”

Anstep nodded, and as the rain developed into downpour, the two cats headed back inside.

Shalestar slipped away, later that night, long after all but Whitetooth and Antstep fell asleep; his last words were faint mumblings too obscured by the thunder outside to understand. It was a slow and very peaceful death- the eyes closed, the breathing stopped, the muscles suddenly went limp. Whitetooth placed two leaves over his eyes and positioned the body flat and compact, like he was crouching forever, so when the Clan would visit his body before the burial the next day he would not look too ill. When he died, there was a moment where the clouds unweaved themselves, and a small patch of starlight lit the center of the sandy hollow.

It was over now, and it had begun.

Antstep awoke as Antstar two days afterward.

#warrior cats #warrior cats ocs #story #ayyyyooooo

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