#so she has like tabby AND color point markings

[cloudblaze]

Look out world, there’s two new protagonists on the scene!

#new over a decade ago that is lol but new where i'm at in my revisit #here they are all bright and shiny and young. i'll certainly be drawing them again at the end of the arc haha #dovewing's design isn't too special bc i don't think she looks like dovewing if she has a lot of markings #i used grandma ferncloud's colors for her! :3 my thought it that she looks a lot like ferncloud without the spots #and with thicker fluffier fur from whitewing's side of the family #as for ivypool hoo boy was she a struggle and i foresee her changing slightly if i continue drawing her #her design is a reconciliation between my childhood image of her as a white cat with silver stripes #+ the fact that for some reason every time i see a lynx point i think ''oh it's ivypool''??? #+ the more canon leaning image of her having tabby spots #there were a lot of different things to work into one picture. oh ivypool you're so complicated #dovewing #ivypool #warriors #warrior cats #thunderclan #my art

[cryptidclaw]

Daisy! I LOVE HER SO MUCH <3

I based her design on a red/cream ragdoll cat bec they are so pretty, and when I think of Berrynose and his mama I always imagine those silly red colorpoint cats :)

Daisy is wearing a fern along with some blue tinted daisies bec in RoC she is mates with Ferncloud!

Basically the only thing Im changing about her is that she becomes mates with Ferncloud instead of being with Spiderleg! Fern had a crush on daisy the moment she met her and was overjoyed when Daisy joined Thunder Order. The two spent lots of time together and Fern was like a second mom to Daisy's kits (Btw I renamed Hazeltail, Cowtail and Mousewhisker, Haywhisker bec I thought farm themed names would be cute!).

Fern and Daisy ended up becoming mates and they had Daisy's second litter together (the donor was a loner)!

I thought about giving Daisy a title (suffix) bec in this au its less of a name and more of a symbolic thing but I decided against it bec I like the idea that Daisy just didn't want one, and wanted to be called just Daisy by everyone! I think she just feels like she doesn't need a title to prove that she's an important part of the Order!

[Image ID: a digital drawing of Daisy from warrior cats. She is laying down with her front facing mostly forwards, her paws are dangling in front of her in a relaxed position and she is smiling, with her mouth open like she is talking. She is a fluffy, long furred, round shaped, cream tabby color point molly with blue eyes. She is a light cream color, with slightly darker dilute red color point tabby markings on her face, legs, tail and back. She has a fluffy hair tuft and a green fern and two pale blue daisies next to her ear. Her inner ears, nose and mouth are all light pink./End ID]

#cryptidclaw's warriors au #rise of change #daisy #daisy warrior cats #daisy warriors #warrior cats #warrior cats design #warriors

[redux-iterum]

Hi I have a request if you’ve got the energy/time!

I’m thinking of an art project and making char designs, and I’d like to have more to look off, as I try and make them.

If you’re able, can you give more detailed write up/designs/ visuals ((height chart?) for some of these chars (listed in order or importance for potential art project) Firepaw/heart, Tigerclaw, Bluestar, Goldenflower, Lionface, Graypaw/stripe, Ravenpaw/wing, Redtail ?

No pressure at all, don’t need to do all the cats or any, something as simple as “they look like canon but this is changed” can help!

Tentative thoughts are focusing on Fire’s relation to Tiger and Golden, and the politics and how that changed the emotions!

Thank you!!

Sure thing! This is mostly just how I see them – I try to leave it a little vague for readers’ interpretations, even if I have my own idea for what everyone looks like. I do encourage you to take some liberties as you’d like to, of course.

Fireheart: The shortest of the cats described here, and a little short even for the average house cat. Canonically to this series, he’s part Somali, so he’s a richer ginger than usual and whatever tabby stripes he has are faint, with his back being darker than his underside. His eyes are a verdant green and have a brightness to them that never seems to go away. His fur is short and smooth and he’s always been skinny, but thanks to regular exercise, he’s quite wiry and is stronger than he looks. He has a perpetual babyface, even with the harshness of the wild, which adds to his charisma.

Tigerclaw: Hulking and just a bit taller than his mate, making him the largest cat in this list. His shoulders are abnormally broad for a cat – almost doglike, really – and his tail is thick even without the long hair on it. His eyes are amber, and this, combined with his hard, haggard face and dark brown coat, makes him look quite intimidating. He’s got huge paws with claws that are just a bit too long to completely stay sheathed, even when withdrawn. His stripes are thick and black, standing out even with his darker brown coloring, and his underside is paler, though he doesn’t have any white markings.

Bluestar: Tall, thin and blue-grey with pale yellow eyes, her face is less hard than her Clanmates’ despite her age (which is shown by her gradually greying muzzle). She is long-legged and the fur on her body is sleek, longer than you’d expect without being overly furry. A long, thin scar marks behind both of her shoulders, and it’s hard to see unless you’re behind her and her fur isn’t draped over it. She has a melancholy face, her ears are longer than usual and she has a look of perpetual weariness barely concealed with regality. I imagine she’s not the most muscled cat in the world, but she’s got strength in her body just as her apprentice does.

Goldenflower: Enormous in height and fluffiness. Her eyes are nearly the same shade of gold as her coat (just darker), which has spotted markings instead of the regular tabby. She’s barely shorter than Tigerclaw, and though her paws could be described as “soft”, they are quite large. Her chest and belly have a broad streak of white on them, and her face is gentle and maternal. She’s got a general look of comfort and sweetness – it feels like she would be an excellent pillow, and be more than happy to provide that service.

Lionface: He would be best described as a “harder” version of his sister. He’s got regular tabby markings, though faint, and his face is easily likened to an actual lion’s – long and grave. He’s big in all aspects, and his fur is long especially around his neck, creating a mane. He’s got green eyes, which I personally see as a big dark and dull; certainly not as vibrant as Fireheart’s. He notably does not have scars on his face, though he most likely has some hidden behind his fur across his body (this is a point of vanity for him). He’s as tall as Goldenflower, but he feels spikier and less comforting. I would say he’s the square to her circle, if that makes sense.

Greystripe: He’s a big boy! He’s just a bit shorter than Goldenflower and Lionface, but his width makes up for that small discrepancy. Bulky shoulders and chest (for a cat, of course), wide paws, puffy, thick fur that makes him look even bigger, so on and so forth. He’s about medium grey, and his tabby marking (which I think of as classic) are nearly black, with a broad stripe down his spine. I feel like he’s got a dark tail-tip, though he has no white marking. His face is round, but it gets harder and harder as he ages, until he’s as haggard as everyone else as a senior warrior. He definitely is plump, though not too overweight, and his eyes are a stark, bright yellow.

Ravenwing: Actually described him here!

Redtail: Probably the second shortest, though he still has a good deal of height on Fireheart. He’s a dark ginger tabby; classic, of course, which I imagine would have such broad stripes that he’s more red than ginger. All four paws are white, with the back feet having that white stretch a bit higher than the front. Long body for sure, to make up for his shortness (again, he’s just smaller compared to ThunderClan’s usual – he’s still bigger than the average cat). He’s got yellow eyes that edge on amber – just as warm and friendly as the rest of him.

Hope this helped!

#ask #anonymous #thunderclan #fireheart #greystripe #ravenwing #redtail #tigerclaw #goldenflower #lionface #i speak #bluestar

[1nt3rn3t4ng3l]

Gonna ask more questions about battle kitties here because our reblog chain is getting long ToT

anyways, what are some kitties you headacanon as, like, different breeds/colors?

I love the idea of MothWing being a Siamese instead of a tabby :3 Also, i love how MoonKitti makes FernCloud a darker gray than Ash! I’ve also seen people make FireStar a tortie/calico! I adore the thought of LeafPool being a lil chubby and Squilf being short with a fluffy tail almost as big as herself-

I also see some people make FireStar a ginger tabby and some people make him a plain ginger w/o markings, I see him a plain tho!

OKOKOK SO!!!

for Mothwing is see her as a Seal Point Ragdoll(also shes a lil chubby and like has long fur(slightly curly)

Sol is a Chimera

I want squilf to be a scottish fold SO BAD!!

Also Firestar as a Torbie >:33

always envisioned GooseFeather as a diluted tortoishell aswell

Leafpool is a Makeral tabby :33

also also also Hollyleaf is like all black but with a tinyyy white patch near her left eye >:3

chimera^^^^

also do u have and hcs for like what accessories the cats would have?

#warrior cats

[werewolfcave]

You have his eyes

Inspired by @javatello 's piece Green eyes of prophecy

Art for my AU where Leafpool and Mothwing openly raise the Three as their kids

[Image ID: A grayscale drawing of three overlapping cat heads, the only part that is colored in this piece is their gold eyes. The head at the top is of a darker colored cat, Tigerstar, who is a maine coon dark tabby tom who resembles a tiger somewhat. He has lighter fur on the sides of his face, framed by two thick black stripes, a light colored front of and side of muzzle (but it should be noted his chin is the same color as his base fur color, and so is the top of his muzzle), stripes on his forehead, some of which resemble a star, and one that resembles an eyebrow. He also has a lighter colored chest, and a stripe on his back. Most notably, he has a scar on the bridge of his nose, and rounded ears with Maine coon ear tufts at the top. He is smiling.

The middle head is that of Mothwing, who is a much lighter color than her father, she is a maine coon flame point tabby with eyes the same color as her father's. She does not have his rounded ears but her tabby markings on her cheeks look to be warped version of her father's. She has two stripes on the side of her cheeks, three visible stripes on her forehead (one of which that looks like an eyebrow), and two visible stripes on the bridge of her muzzle. She looks worried.

The bottom head is Lionblaze, who is similarly colored to his mother Mothwing. He is also a point tabby with golden eyes like his grandfather and mother. He has three stripes on the side of his face, one of which resembles a four pointed star, on his forehead he has three visible stripes. He lightly resembles a lion with rounded ears and a rounded muzzle. Notably the fur on the sides of his face is shorter than that of his neck. He looks determined. End ID.]

#tigerstar #mothwing #lionblaze #wc #warrior cats #i did the art thing #mothpool threes parents au

[scarabies-real]

the jamlets?

OH IM SO EXCITED TO SHARE THIS WITH YALL

I’m working on a fic where Jellie has kittens and the experiencing of co-parenting brings Scar and Grian together. I have called Jellie’s kittens “the Jamlets” and I will not be taking criticism thank you. I did actual genetics to come up with these kittens. There are seven in total! Here they are!

Apricot:

Coat length: short

Coat color: red

Pattern: spotted tabby

Eye color: green (like ref)

Gender: tom

Other: Same white pattern as Jellie (couldn’t find a good ref)

Personality: extremely adventurous, constantly getting into sticky situations. He has orange cat syndrome and is dumb as bricks. Once ate a bee that made his whole face swell up when he was a kitten and Scar had several consecutive panic attacks. Grian is his favorite person and he makes it everybody else’s problem (destroys things when he’s not around to play.)

Peach:

Coat length: long

Coat color: cream bi-color

Pattern: classic tabby, ( tabby markings faint from dilution)

Eye color: green (like ref)

Gender: tom

Personality: Extremely shy around new people, one very anxious little boy. He picked one person to like (Scar) and is terrified of all others. If a cat could be the personification of anxiety that’s him. Is very agile and graceful but you hardly see him show off.

Strawberry:

Coat length: long

Coat color: red

Pattern: classic tabby (tabby markings are faint, genetically solid)

Eye color: gold

Gender: tom

Personality: Orange cat syndrome like his brother but he’s extremely mad about it at all times. Would fight god and win. Is rarely called by his actual name but rather by various nicknames such as “Grumpus, “Sourpuss,” “Crabbypants,” “Hot Pepper,” “Spicy,” “Mr. Murder Mittens,” “Lord Murderberry,” and “NO NOT MY ANKLES LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”

Blueberry:

Coat length: short

Coat color: blue silver (tuxedo white markings)

Pattern: classic tabby

Eye color: copper

Gender: mollie

Personality: Off the walls 24/7. She came out looking pretty much like a fainter Jellie clone and they thought she would be calm but no, she’s very much like her father (affectionately called “batshit insane”) god help you if you come within spotting distance with her favorite toy (bread twist ties) or if you need to go the bathroom (not alone you won’t!)

Basil:

Coat length: short

Coat color: black

Pattern: mackerel tabby

Eye color: amber

Gender: tom

Personality: LOUD. HE SCREAM. Dramatic little boy he will throw himself in front of your feet and yowl as if you have stepped on him, then gaslight you into giving him a treat even if you did not step on him. Scar calls him his little insurance fraudster. Grian calls him a menace. He is constantly on the brink of starvation and he CANNOT believe you are such a cruel and horrible owner to not feed him, really, do you WANT him to die!? Feathers are evil and must be defeated. It is 4am so he must sing the song of his people and do zoomies around the house.

Mixed Berry “Miss Berry”:

Coat length: long

Coat color: tortoiseshell (dilute, low-white)

Pattern: genetically solid, faint mackerel tabby markings in red fur

Eye color: Green

Gender: mollie

Personality: Constantly judging you. She’s better than you and she knows it. The tortitude is REAL. She’s fairly aloof but food motivated and tolerates everyone to some extent. Only really gets excited about Pearl visiting. Secretly likes her siblings and Grian and Scar but don’t you dare point it out. Never called by her actual name, she’s either “Miss” “Miss Berry” or “Missy.” Treated like a queen. Thinks she’s the favorite. Don’t tell her she’s not.

Kiwi:

Coat length: short

Coat color: black (tuxedo markings and socks, face markings—mustache)

Pattern: solid

Eye color: green

Gender: mollie

Personality: The actual favorite. A very adventurous cuddle bug! If she’s not hunting dust bunnies she’s always in someone’s lap. LOVES to greet strangers and loves being held like a baby. Has a weird fixation with water that cost Scar thousands of dollars (turned on the gap and flooded the entire bathroom.) She has to drink out of a water fountain or tap or she doesn’t drink at all. She gave Scar and Grian a scare when she was born and Scar has Never Gotten Over It. She likes Mumbo to a disturbing degree. They have matching mustaches. He would die for her.

The father: Peanut Butter

coat length: short

coat color: chocolate

pattern: spotted tabby

eye color: amber

Gender: tom (obviously)

Personality: Was originally skittish but has since become a menace to society. He likes to eat trash and start fights. He was supposed to be an indoor cat after Grian found him, but he’s an escape artist and likes to cause panic on purpose. He’s where Blueberry and Apricot get their 0 chill personality. There’s something wrong with him probably. Has street smarts but is horrible at putting them into practice. Constantly getting stuck in things. Called PB for short or “little mans”

The mother: Jellie

coat length: short

coat color: black tortoiseshell silver (mask and mantle white pattern)

pattern: classic tabby

Eye color: green

Gender: mollie (obviously)

Personality: the one true Queen we all know and love. Is a little more of a sneaky girl in this but still so so sweet and a major cuddle bug. What Jellie Wants Jellie Gets. Scar’s instincts to maim and kill for her only get worse when he realizes he’s a grandpa.

Yes I did literal actual genetics research to figure out her coat color and what her kittens could look like no I’m not okay. I had no idea she was a tortoiseshell and not just a black silver until I looked at close up pics and saw she has red (diluted to cream by the silver gene, so it just looks like rufousing) fur interspersed throughout her flank and belly and on her face. I’m so insane about this she’s such a pretty girl.

Anyways PLEASE ask me about the Jamlets or PB&J or Scar and Grian and how the fic goes I have so much knowledge rattling around up here and I want to share it with the world NOW!!!!!

#there is no sign of land #burdened with knowledge #they’re in the walls th #jamlets au #hermitcraft fanfic #jellie and the jamlets #jellie the cat #jellie gtws #hermitshipping #scarian #thwop boop #long post #images

[spottyissleepwalking]

Ooo can I see your design for yellowfang or her son brokenstar? I have been thinking about them a lot lately

Ol’ Yellerfang my beloved <3

Design notes:

Massive, but only horizontally. Incredibly thickset, a tank, a brick wall, but also Very short.

Four scars across her face, two scars across the left side of her chest, two scars across her left foreleg, one split scar across her right hind leg. Left ear is entirely shredded sans the very top part + the ear tufts, and the right ear sports two large nicks.

Thick-furred, somewhat fluffy, but definitely ragged; she has a lot of fur, and not a lot of free time to try and manage it. (Cinderpelt and Fireheart sometimes tie up the excess fur on the top of her head and below her jaw so they don’t get in the way of her eyes and mouth 😌)

Dark smoke tortoiseshell colorpoint!!! :D

Lower jaw protrudes pretty significantly, exposing long lower canines.

LGBT+ headcanon: Cis lesbian (she/they)! I like to think that Ragged was an extreme case of comphet, with additional spice because, in the beginning, he made her feel desired and Yellow liked that.

[Image ID: A digital drawing of Yellowfang, sitting upright with her body mostly facing the camera, her head tilted somewhat left and her eyes at the camera; the entire image is outlined in white. She is a stocky, thick-set, muscular, ragged-furred, fluffy, very dark gray cat with a paler mane, and darker point markings at her face, legs, ears and tail; she is heavily scarred, most prominently across her face, chest, and legs; she has striking, pale orange marbled tabby tortoiseshell markings at her face, ears, tail, and right hind paw. There are little dark green leaves and distinctive, bright yellow petals scattered throughout her messy fur, and the thick fur beneath her chin is tied up like a beard; her tail is very large and fluffy, and tipped with tortoiseshell marks. At her paws is her extensive color palette, and above her tail is the word “YELLOWFANG” written in white, all-caps. Across her left side is the stylized artist signature of “spottyissleepwalking” written in faded lavender. / End ID.]

#warrior cats #warriors #warriors design #warriors designs #warrior cats design #warrior cats designs #yellowfang #yellowfangs secret #into the wild #medicine cat #thunderclan #shadowclan #starclan #spotty’s designs

[newwarriorsocworldobsession]

FAMILY TREE, EVERYONE!

Alright, so, we're also gonna talk genetics here. This is gonna get lengthy so buckle up. I posted all the videos on making this darn thing on my TikTok, but one cannot explain genetics enough in five 10 minutes videos. Or at least I can't, and the family tree that shows how the original founders of my five clans get to the point of Floodclan's current leadership was the best (and longest) family tree to show how weird cat genetics can get! Also gonna get into some lore on this that I had no time to add in the videos.

Do note: I will not be talking about fur length.

Starting with Thicketstar, she's a chocolate ticked tabby with no white spotting. Both of her youngest children, Embercloud and Sunnystar, have at most 50% white spotting and are calicos.

Embercloud is a chocolate caliby (a tabby calico) while Sunnystar is a carmelized blue calico (fun fact a carmelized diluted red/cream is an 'apricot' for those who didn't know.)

So, basic cats colors to look at here alone:

Black is most dominant (dilute is blue)

Chocolate is recessive to Black (dilute is lilac)

Cinnamon is recessive to Chocolate (dilute is fawn)

Red is sex-linked (dilute is cream). Red cats pretty much are a 'hey, let's not let the eumelanin(what's responsible for Black, chocolate, and cinnamon) show and let the phaeomelanin (what's responsible for red) shine on through!'

So if a tom inherits the black gene thanks to having a chocolate dad and a black calico mom, but also gets that one X chromosome that's red from mom, that's going to be a red tom than, if they have a calico daughter, could still pass on that black gene and make that daughter a black calico. Probably a better way to explain it, but that's how I'm going to.

So then, starting with Thicketstar, she's a chocolate ticked tabby with no white spotting. Both of her youngest children, Embercloud and Sunnystar, have at most 50% white spotting and are calicos.

Embercloud is a chocolate caliby (a tabby calico) while Sunnystar is a carmelized blue solid calico (fun fact a carmelized diluted red/cream is an 'apricot' for those who didn't know.)

So already, the previous explanation is in play.

Sunnystar being a caramelized blue means both Thicketstar and Sunnystar's father carried both the dilute gene so that Sunnystar could be blue, but also the caramel trait. The caramel trait is also recessive like dilute. In order for Sunny to be blue, means her red tom dad who also has a lot of white spotting would have been a black or blue tom if he didn't have that special red 'X.'

Sunnystar is mates with Moonstar, a seal Bengal spotted lynx colorpoint. This means Moonstar has the colorpoint gene, obviously, but is also genetically a black cat. Since he's a tabby though, which is dominant to Sunnystar's solid, that means if we assume he carries a recessive solid gene, it's a 50-50 chance for their kids to be solids.

Which is true! Their daughter Blueclaw is a solid blue! Moonstar doesn't have the caramel gene, so Blueclaw isn't caramelized like Sunnystar. HOWEVER, because Moonstar has the gene that causes the Bengal pattern and passed that down to his kits, Blueclaw's solid coat does have muted markings regardless. (Bengals are weird and this won't be the first time it messes with this family tree)

Sunnystar's and Moonstar's other daughter Leopardheart isn't dilute and has inherited Sunnystar's whitespotting, though it is a lesser amount. Since Leopardheart is a tabby, she displays the Bengal pattern Moonstar passed on down. Both Blueclaw and Leopardheart are genetically black like both Sunnystar and Moonstar are.

Back to Embercloud.

They have a son, Sleekstride, who is a chocolate mink tabby with a small amount of whitespotting. In order for Sleekstride to be any type of colorpoint, Embercloud has to have a recessive colorpoint gene, along with Sleekstride's father. For future reference, we will assume that Sleekstride's father was either a cinnamon or carried cinnamon.

Sleekstride then has Palestar, a fawn ticked lynx colorpoint with no white. This is why we must assume that Sleekstride's father is either cinnamon or carried it, along with Sleekstride's mate. The cinnamon cannot be from Embercloud, because as we discussed earlier, Embercloud's father would have been a red cat, hiding a black coat, and would have had to carry chocolate in order for her to have chocolate like her mother Ticketstar. We can also assume Sleekstride's mate either was a colorpoint or also carried it.

Palestar's mate is Fallowspark, a black tabby with little white spotting. However, Fallowspark carries chocolate! How do we know this?

Because none of their children are cinnamon/fawn and one of them, Fernrunner, is a chocolate-ticked tabby.

We also know both Palestar and Fallowspark carry solid because of Shadowrapid is a black solid tom with small white spotting and Fallowspark carries dilute, colorpoint and both carry the caramel trait because Creekstar is a caramelized blue lynx colorpoint and their daughter Mothstar is a seal lynx colorpoint.

We good? Good.

Creekstar has a total of six mates, but only had kits with three, so let's just look at those.

He and his first mate Heavyheart, a black twilight charcoal tabby have Doespot, a lilac charcoal tabby. This means, since Creekstar would be carrying cinnamon from Palestar, Heavyheart is carrying chocolate and dilute.

Creekstar's next mate Amberstream is a fawn tortie. They have OWlcry, a solid blue mink, which means Amberstream carries a sort of colorpoint. Since both Creekstar and Amberstream are diluted, this means Owlcry has to be diluted as well. There are no other options.

Creekstar's last mate TImbercall is a black tabby, and they have Lakepaw, who is a blue tabby.

Heavyheart and Shadowrapid hook up after Creekstar dumped her and they have Fernpelt, a black midnight charcoal tabby with a small amount of white.

Fernpelt then fathers Lionstar, who is a solid fawn with the same amount of white spotting. Now, we know that since Shadowrapid is a solid, Fernpelt would be a carrier. We also know that it's a 50-50 chance that Fernpelt would have also been a carrier for both the cinnamon trait and dilute trait, has both would have been inherited from Shadowrapid being a carrier after inheriting those traits from his own mother Palestar.

In case anyone needs a sum up of that:

Palestar( dilute cinnamon) --> Shadowrapid (carriers cinnamon and dilute) --> Fernpelt (could carrier cinnamon and dilute) --> Lionstar (dilute cinnamon)

Good? Good.

Lionstar fathers Marshrunner, who does not have white spotting and is a solid chocolate tom. Since cinnamon is the most recessive of the non-red colors, this makes sense and points to Lioncry's mate being either a carrier of chocolate or chocolate herself.

Marshrunner then fathers Finchstar, who is a solid chocolate tortoiseshell, having no white. Since Finchstar is a tortoiseshell, her mother is either a tortie herself or a red she-cat, in which said the mother could only provide red 'Xs'.

We know that Finchstar's mate would have to be a red tom since she then has a daughter Fireflight, who is a red colorpoint. Now, regardless if a cat is solid or tabby, red will always display stripes. Genetically, however, Fireflight is a solid.

We do know her mate has to be a tabby with whitespotting because then her son Gorsestar is a red tabby colorpoint with whitespotting. However the color of Gorsestar's father does not matter in this case, as since Fireflight is red, then so too must be Gorsestar.

Gorsestar first is mates with Ravencry, a solid black tuxedo. Since Ravencry is genetically black, their son Tigercall then is also such, but he's a tabby like Gorsestar. He gets whitespotting from either Gorsestar or Ravencry, but not both since he's a tuxedo as well.

Tigercall then mates with non-clan cat Jane, a solid chocolate bicolor. However Tigercall still passes on the black gene onto their daughter Shadowfoot, and this time both parents give a white spotting gene to their child, as Shadowfoot has a massive amount of white on her.

Shadowfoot has a kit with Snowmask, a blue tabby bicolor. They have Junipercloud, who also turns out to be a blue bicolor. This means the dilute trait Shadowfoot is a carrier for is either came from Jane or managed to be passed on secretly through Gorsestar's family since Lionstar. We will see it could be either later.

Now, Snowmask had a previous mate, Riverbelly, who was a seal lynx colorpoint.

Both of their sons Darkpelt and Loonwing are black tabbies, but Loonwing inherits Snowmask's white spotting and neither of them is colorpoints. Loonwing is mates with Hornetsting, a cream tabby she-cat with whitespotting, making any son they have red or cream and all daughter calicos.

Now let's go back to Gorsestar.

Gorsestar later mates with Spottedstream, a gray tortie.We now know that Gorsestar does indeed carry a dilute gene because their Stormfrost is a dilute/blue tortie colorpoint. We already know Gorsestar carries solid from his mother and paired with solid tortie Spottestream, this lets Stormfrost be the solid she is as well.

Stormfrost hooks up with two toms, Riverthorn (a seal point) and Lioncry (a chocolate wideband tabby). Wideband makes a cat's coat, aside from stripes, look golden.

Stormfrost and Riverthorn can only produce more colorpoints. Riverthorn also carried dilute as evidenced by Falconstar being a blue colorpoint. Their daughter Mudmask is a seal colorpoint just like her father.

Stormfrost's son in the same litter. Redwing, could be either Riverthorn's or Lioncry's son. Redwing is a colorpoint, as since he's red, he'd still show having stripes regardless if he was a tabby or a solid. Lioncry's wideband gene is a dominant trait, but it'd also be reasonable that Lioncry could have a recessive gene where a kit of his wouldn't get that trait.

Mudmask is mates with Bluetalon, a blue tabby. Their kits will more than likely be black or blue, it is a 50-50 chance since Mudmask would carry dilute from her mother Stormfrost.

Falconstar is mates with Flyflight, a black smoke. If the two of them could have kits, it'd be a 50-50 chance of their kits being smokes or regular solids. However, both Falconstar and Flyflight are cis toms, so not possible.

So now, there is only one mystery in this whole family tree. Who is Redwing's dad? If you want to make a guess, go on ahead and give a reason.

And if anyone wants me to put down another family tree from my characters on here or the canon warrior cats (I might regret that) the ask box is always open. Also, for those of you who made it this far, thank you. I appreciate you reading through this whole lengthy post.

#family tree #warrior cats #warriors worldingbuilding #warriors designs #warriors ocs #warrior cats family tree

[bonefall]

Sketch Request: Batch 1

So I said they'd be in pencil but OOPS they are in pen

Requests are still open, feel free to request the same character again!

Under the cut is Firestar, Bluestar, Runningnose, Flipclaw, Hawkwing, Violetshine, and Morningflower. Special guest appearances for Brokenstar and balding Lionblaze.

@doritopaw101 Firestar

FIRESTARRRR I want him to look like an anime protagonist. He starts off round, simple eyes, blush, and ends up as fire twink. The chest scars are from where Scourge killed him

I have never been able to imagine stripes on him. He is an orange crayon.

@nightly-ruse Bluestar

Ignore balding lionblaze in the corner we'll get to him

I usually just see a super basic blue cat when I picture her but Bluestar needs something cooler than that. I tried to channel a wolf, long face, tail's kinda thick, leg feathering. She also has a ThunderClan "mane," a feature I try to put on most TC cats

After the Tigerstar attack I love the idea she has tabby-like scars on one side of the face. Shredded ear, loss of vision in one eye. I also make it a point to always include her shoulder scar.

@runn1ngn0se Your Boy (scheme flavor)

Runningnose looks sticky, but it's all just natural markings. He's actually quite thick and fluffy (same build as Tangleburr).

His defining feature is that snot-streak, which is also just a very unfortunate birthmark.

He's pretty naturally dour. Serious expressions, gives the vibe that he's always analyzing you, he doesn't tend to speak unprompted. But he does smile a lot when Brokenstar's doing Evil Things with him.

He LOVES when he gets to start shit and hide in the fluff of his beloved supernatural manifestation of spite and rage. Special drawing of it since I already posted his full design waaay back.

Also side note Im obsessed with the cut disney song "Snuff Out The Light" right now and it feels like SUCH a Bonefall Runningnose anthem.

@elkpoint Flipclaw

So I mentioned Balding Lionblaze here because he's his grandpa! Flipclaw looks a LOT like him before he lost his hair. He's MEGA fuzzy. (In the rewrite though Fernsong is an ex-kittypet and Ivypool is Lionblaze's daughter)

I also can't imagine him as a brown tabby, he's this really nice brownish-gold color like a lion. His stripes are brown, though. He's also a total jokester, I think he was really close to his uncle Hollylark and misses him a lot.

Pictured is him saying, "look at me guys im walking like a twoleg!!" What a guy.

@purrsnickitty Hawkwing

I have always seen him as a mix between Tony Tiger and Batman. I am not sorry about this.

He is also a lynxpoint. When I make SkyClan cats I think of monkeys and aviator pilots for some reason, so they're all getting dextrous paws and prehensile tails.

His stripes are also all chevrons, and he's got TONS of tufts on his shoulders, ears, plus a puffy 'mane' that's part of the belly (don't ask me why it just reminds me of aviator jackets for some reason)

He is also an absolute unit.

@purrsnickitty Violetshine

Usually I need to do two sketches to get where I'm going with a design but not for Violetshine. First try, there she is. Monkey woman

Heart shapes for her, heart face, heart belly/mane. It also didn't come across well but her tail is LONG. Able to wrap around stuff easy. Mm, monkey.

I intended for there to be family resemblance because her and Hawkwing are bodied. They have LOTS of diameter. Complete volume.

@nightly-ruse Morningflower

Mentally I adopted your design of Morningflower because it's so good, but here's my old idea of her

Calico Morningflower my beloved

The coloring was difficult but I tried to communicate she has very little white. Most of her is bright orange and warm, sooty gray. She is the sister of Ashfoot (Onewhisker removed) so the gray is very important in my head.

I like WindClan cats to be very whispy, and they almost always have a white tail tip. Morningflower, instead, has an orange tip (which I may fix in another draft).

(I drew her training an apprentice, it was going to be Whitetail! But then I borked the eyes and it's pen so I can't fix it. She looks too scary. So I cropped her out OTL)

#Tags later #On mobile rn and there's a lot to tag

[turtles-n--cats]

Warriors AU: 2012 gang pt2

Finally finished enough of the 2012 characters to make a decent part two

With this we’ll finish the last of the siblings, and a few others. There is some mention of a couple OCs in this post. I have a handful I've tossed into this au of mine, and I’ll share all of them in their own post later

As before, we’ve got a long post, so all can be found under the cut, and once again Credit for the bases used goes to Rockyspotted on deviantART

Karai, aka Viperpaw: Her name is a reference to her mutation in the show. Seeing as how no one is getting mutated in this au, the name will have to do. She’s a dark silver classic tabby with gold eyes. 

Originally named “Harmonykit”, and Splinter’s first-born, Viperpaw was stolen along with her younger brother Bravepaw(Leo). While Bravepaw was recovered, She was presumed lost along with her mother. She was raised never knowing the truth, brought up to despise her birth father and his clan. Her mentor in nightclan is 2012 Tigerclaw, who is still named Tigerclaw. (they do not get along)

Casey Jones, aka “Casey” or “Wolfpaw“: Casey’s nothing if not loyal (and a fair bit impulsive) in the show. Wolves are epitome of loyalty. He’s a black ghost ticked tabby with a white mask marking on his face, and brown eyes. He’s surprisingly big for his age

Casey’s a former kittypet who’s currently on trial as a warrior apprentice in Sunclan after then found him holding his own against a fully trained Nightclan warrior. His mentor is Fennecfur (the Bayverse version of one of my OCs)

April O’Niel, aka “April” or “Leopardpaw”: Her name was pretty much just based on appearance, though a little on how her temper is occasionally like a raging wildcat. She’s brown-ish orange marbled bengal cat with blue eyes

Much like Casey, April is currently a trial-apprentice in Sunclan. Her father was forcibly recruited by a gang of terrifying cats roaming the twoleg place calling themselves the “Krang Gang”, and who’ve been kidnapping kittypets from their yards. Her friend Casey told her about the clan cats thinking maybe they could help her. She currently still stays in the twoleg place at night. Her mentor is 03 April, aka Dawnpelt

And lastly we got a lil bonus for you: Tang Shen, aka “Spiritpond”: I did a lil research on the meaning of her name, and ended up having to look up each word of her name individually. The name Tang means “soup” or “hot water”, and Shen means “Spiritual” or “deepthinking”. A pond is technically soup if you think about it, so her name is “Spiritpond”. It also, in this case, has a double meaning cause she’s dead.  She’s a silver lynx-point tabby, like Leo, though her points are a touch darker in color than his, and her eyes a deeper blue.

She died trying to rescue her daughter from Poppystrike/2012 Shredder, She currently spends most of her time watching over her kits from starclan, occasionally walking among them as a ghost, not that they can see her.

#tmnt 2012 #mentions of Bayverse and 03 #tmnt #warrior cats #tmnt april 2012 #tmnt casey 2012 #tmnt karai 2012 #tmnt tang shen #tmnt warriors au

[warriorsbutnotreally]

Hypokits my beloved…

So, this one’s weird a bit, and I’m not sure how would you react (was not on the black list, but still), so sorry in advance if you don’t like it, feel free to ignore

What would Spark and Alder look like if Bramblestar chose Jessy at the end of BSS and they were hers?

idm Jessy x Bramblestar, even though I don't ship it myself [he at least was never shown to be consistently shitty towards her, though I can't see them lasting because Jessy, like Squilf, is a spirited and stubborn cat]

I will admit I don't keep them together in this AU, BUT that's a small detail and you're free to ignore it

also after the initial awkwardness, Jessy and Squilf do become friends and Squilf was Alderpaw/heart's mentor cause Jessy trusted her the most with her nervous son

and Jessy never takes a warrior name cause I like the idea of her refusing to give up her name

[ID: the image depicts four cats - two alive and two spirits. The living cats are sitting back to back with one sibling behind each of them. From left to right -

Rumblekit is a dark brown tabby tom with a gray-brown muzzle, gray-brown chest, and a gray-brown underside. He has brownish amber eyes that are solid in color due to being a ghost. He has a swoop of fur going over one eye and a thick-furred tabby tail. He is hovering lightly in the air and his hind legs are covered by Brandypelt's head. He looks worried.

Brandypelt is a lighter brown molly with darker brown points and two stripes on the side of her face. Her underbelly is a creamy brown color, which she also has on the lower half of her dark brown tail and at the bottom of her paws. Her eyes are reddish in color and she has some light creamy brown markings over her eyes. She is facing to the left and sitting down. She seems determined. She wears two claw earrings in her right ear and her tail, like Rumblekit's, is thick.

Next is Alderheart, who is a dark brown tabby with a light brown face, light brown chest plus underside, light brown paws, and a thin tail. His eyes are magenta in color. He seems nervous, his head lowered, one paw raised to his chest, and his tail wrapped around himself. The fur on the top of his head is sleeked back. He has a tuft of fur on his chin that looks like a scruffy beard.

Finally is Flowerkit, who is a brown molly with dark brown ears, dark brown legs, dark brown over her eyes, and a dark brown tail. She had a brown-gray streak on her nose, a gray-brown chest, and pinkish eyes that are solid colored due to her being a ghost. She is mostly blocked by Alderheart's head, but she appears to be worried and reaching a paw out to her living brother.]

so!

let's start with the two little elephants in the room; I also did Juniperkit and Marigoldkit [Rumblekit and Flowerkit respectively here].

Rumblekit was originally going to be named Thunderkit, because Jessy was trying to celebrate how she was brought to ThunderClan, but Bramblestar didn't like the idea. After some thought, he agreed when she suggested Rumblekit.

Rumblekit had a heart condition and that's what eventually caused his death after the stress of Flowerkit's death was too much.

Flowerkit was named somewhat after her grandma, Goldenflower, though mostly because Jessy thought Flower would make a nice name and so she figured that name would be the most fitting.

Flowerkit passed from sickness after a long struggle

now onto the next part;

Brandypelt [Sparkpelt] was a big stress for the couple when it came to naming. Bramblestar wanted her to have a normal name while Jessy refused to let up on naming her after her friend, Minty's sibling, Brandy.

Bramblestar refers to her as Bramblepelt cause he doesn't understand what a 'Brandy' is. Brandypelt does not get along with her father at all.

Alderheart's name stayed the same because I couldn't figure another name that fit and naming him after a tree just felt right. So he got to stay Alderheart.

Alderheart got his name as a warrior, but because I imagine Jessy and Bramblestar broke up after their kids became warriors, Bramblestar did proceed to put his son in the medicine cat den cause he thought Alderheart would do better there.

/

as a side note;

Jessy 100% approves of her son's crush on Velvet and would've defended his feelings for her.

#hypos #hypokits #au #alderheart #sparkpelt #juniperkit #marigoldkit #jessy #bramblestar #warriors #warrior cats

[aspenhearrt]

Quick guide to characters

since i don't have the energy to do everyone's full bios or allegiances right now, this is a quick list of all of the characters in Crowpaw Story!

ShadowClan

Crowpaw, he/him, healer's apprentice. 8 moons old currently; a young black tom with a white heart on his chest and green eyes. Empathetic but easily manipulated. Brother of Beetlepaw.

Larkspurleaf, she/her, healer. 80 moons old currently; a longhair seal point with a fire-like blaze marking on her face. Cold, calculating, but an excellent healer and a trusted member of the Clan. The main antagonist.

Beetlepaw, he/him, apprentice, 8 moons old currently; a young black tom with a white heart on his chest and green eyes. Quiet. Feels betrayed by his brother and StarClan. Mentor is Yarrowstar. Brother of Crowpaw.

Cricketpaw, he/him, apprentice. 6 moons old currently; a desaturated brown/maybe silver tabby-and-white tom. Bitter and bullying, he's jealous of the seemingly perfect life his half-siblings have while him and his less-than-stellar mother are abused. Half-brother to Crowpaw and Beetlepaw, littermate of Concrete/Asterkit. Current mentor is Embersnap.

Brindlebear, she/her, warrior. 37 moons old currently; a torbie-and-white she-cat with brown eyes. Stoic and duty-oriented, she does what she is told and plays her emotions close to her chest. Excellent mother. Ex-mate of Nightjay/Sylvester, mother of Beetlepaw, Crowpaw, and an unnamed kit who died shortly after birth due to a congenital defect.

Dustchirp, she/her, warrior. 39 moons old currently; a pale cream/dust-colored tabby with amber eyes. An unrepentant gossip. She was always jealous of Brindlebear and started an affair with Nightjay/Sylvester to hurt her, but then he kidnapped one of her kits and left the clan, leaving both of them broken. She's quite cruel to Cricketpaw because she had him specifically to be hurtful, not because she wanted to be a mother. She's bad at it. Mother of Cricketpaw and Concrete/Asterkit.

Yarrowstar, she/her, leader. 112 moons old currently; a dilute torbie with green eyes and many scars, including being blind in one eye. Extremely strict and a hardline traditionalist, Yarrowstar has an unshakeable bond with StarClan and is altogether seen as a fair and discerning (if perhaps overbearingly by-the-book leader). Current mentor of Beetlepaw.

Embersnap, he/him, deputy. 43 moons old currently; a vivid ginger-and-white tom with amber eyes and a distinctive fire-like marking on his face. Quite different from Yarrowstar (and believed by her and Larkspur to be a cat of prophecy), Embersnap is progressive, kind, and filled with new, strange ideas. Yarrowstar hopes he's what ShadowClan needs. Current mentor of Cricketpaw.

Hawkpool, she/her, warrior. 50 moons old currently; a medium-furred chocolate mink point with blue eyes. Close with Yarrowstar but increasingly also close with Embersnap. Calm and polite; she's pretty new so I'm still working on her. Current apprentice is Coalpaw.

Vultureface, she/her, warrior. 35 moons old currently; a longhaired black she-cat with yellow eyes. Vultureface is vain and seems to think the world revolves around her; after having half-clan kits and becoming physically abusive to one of them, she is on extremely thin ice in the Clan and is firmly on her last straw. Mother of Oatpaw (WC) and Coalpaw.

Rowanpelt, he/him, warrior. 22 moons old currently; a longhaired reddish ticked tabby with yellow eyes. Rowanpelt is also one of those "very new background characters I'm still working on" but he's here! Idolizes Embersnap.

Coalpaw, he/him, apprentice. 10 moons old currently; a longhair black tom with some slight striping and green eyes. Coalpaw participated in the abuse of his brother verbally; he has very confused feelings about being half-clan and is desperate to prove himself. Current mentor is Hawkpool. Brother of Oatpaw (WC).

RiverClan

Dragonflystar, she/her, leader. 40-60ish moons. A beautiful blue she-cat with green eyes and a heavily scarred face. Noble, tenacious, witty, and deeply brutal when she needs to be, she is often called the Leopard of RiverClan. Was led astray by her cruel mentor as an apprentice, but ultimately exposed his plot and was absolved by her Clan of her crimes (this was a Dark Forest plotline originally, but now its just a normal evil guy!).

Spidersight, he/him, healer. Easily well over 200 moons old. A black and white tabby tom with yellow eyes. He's outlived three apprentices and is as healthy as a horse, aside from some arthritis and a bit of vision loss. Stern (maybe even *mean*) but very, very reliable and honorable; refuses to give up on people and repays debts.

Petalfang, she/her, warrior. About 15 moons old. A heavily scarred/disfigured longhair calico with one yellow eye. Single-handedly fought and nearly killed (her mentor finished it off) a coyote at 11 moons old and almost died from it; Petalfang was given a dying apprentice ceremony like Brightheart and is now grappling with her new "normal" between a traumatic brain injury, partial or total loss of two senses, and a radically different appearance. Sister of Lizardfoot.

Lizardfoot, she/her, warrior. About 15 moons old. A longhair gray cat with bright yellow eyes and three legs. Lizardfoot was born three-legged and has never let it slow her down! She's currently helping her sister learn what it means to be disabled and how to cope with it, especially with her parents doing a bad job of being supportive themselves. Sister of Petalfang.

Rhododendronfeather, he/him, warrior. A beautiful long-haired calico (trans) with yellow eyes. Dramatic, flamboyant, and flowy, Rhododendronfeather is a handful (and a mouthful) but he loves his kits-- even if he's unfortunately managed to make Petalfang's recovery all about him. Father of Petalfang and Lizardfoot.

Sharktail, he/him, warrior (maybe the deputy? undecided). A blue-and-white tom with green eyes and a bobbed tail. Sharktail is a cool fellow who compartmentalizes well-- which included compartmentalizing his daughter Petalfang as already dead while she was still dying. Now that she's survived, he's still struggling to not treat her like a ghost. Father of Petalfang and Lizardfoot, brother of Ospreywhisker.

Ospreywhisker, they/them, warrior. A black-and-white tom with green eyes. Ospreywhisker was Petalfang's mentor and worked hard to get her to come out of her shell. They're very impressed with her, but worry about everyone overwhelming her-- mostly, they're just glad she's okay. Sibling of Sharktail.

ThunderClan

Cinnamonstar, he/him, leader. A cinnamon torbie (he's trans) with green eyes. Fairly new character, I don't have much written about him yet. Laidback and kind.

Oaknose, he/him, deputy. A brown tabby tom with green eyes. Fair, caring, amiable, and not well-developed. Current mentor of Batpaw.

Tawnyowl, she/her, healer. Around 30 moons old. A torbie-and-white she-cat with amber eyes. Warm, kind, altruistic, playful-- she came to ThunderClan at about eight moons old from a rogue group where she lived in fear of its leader. Now she works hard to repay the kindness ThunderClan showed her.

Batpaw, she/her, apprentice. 6 moons old. A black tabby she-cat with green eyes. Batpaw has two personality traits so far: an abundance of enthusiasm and gay dads! Apprentice of Oaknose.

WindClan

Harepounce, he/him, healer. About 50-70 moons old. A solid brown tom with extremely heavy scarring that left him completely blind. WindClan's loyal (and superstitious) healer, Harepounce has been faithfully serving WindClan's healer's den since before he was mauled by rogues and will continue to serve there until he drops dead, StarClan willing.

Thistleheart, he/him, healer. About 30-40 moons old. A gray tabby-and-white cat with vitiligo and amber eyes. Thistleheart firmly maintains that he is not a healer's apprentice, he is a healer. He is not an apprentice. He's completed his training. STOP CALLING HIM AN APPRENTICE--

Oatpaw, he/him, apprentice. 10 moons old. A pale, wiry cream-colored cat with bright green eyes. Oatpaw was born in ShadowClan, but he's taken to WindClan like a fish to water-- he's tenacious and passionate and a bit of a know-it-all, which his mentor seems to resent, but he's quickly earning the trust of his new clanmates. Brother of Coalpaw.

StarClan

Ashroot, they/them, former ShadowClan healer; an odd-eyed longhair silver tabby minkpoint. Ashroot was cold, determined, and effective-- they took their responsibilities extremely seriously and look upon Larkspurleaf's poisoning of the office with disdain. Died of wasting disease (cancer). Former mentor of Quailstem.

Quailstem, he/him, former ShadowClan healer; an odd-eyed brown tabby. Quailstem never quite had his mentor's conviction, but he wanted to help Larkspurleaf and ShadowClan both-- unfortunately he didn't realize until after he'd died that it wouldn't be possible. Selected Crowpaw as the cat prophesied to succeed Larkspurleaf. Died of whitecough.

Snowdrop, she/her, former ShadowClan kit; a cat who completely lacked pigment. The littermate of Beetlepaw and Crowpaw, she was never named out loud but Brindlebear buried her with the name Snowkit so that she would be known to her ancestors. Very kind; watches over all of her siblings, but especially Cricketpaw. Died of complications related to albinism.

Adderstar, she/her, former loner/RiverClan leader; a silver tabby she-cat with brown eyes. She fell in love with a loner who didn't love her back and invited him to her clan; he left soon after and she followed him, only to find herself pregnant. She died in childbirth and he brought her only surviving kit back to RiverClan. Mother of Dragonflystar.

Outsiders

Sylvester, formerly Nightjay, he/him, kittypet. 40 moons old currently; a black-and-white tom with yellow eyes. Nightjay was originally the chatty, charismatic cool guy with lots of friends; he became mates with Brindlebear, lost one of his kits, was deeply shaken by it, and then got with Dustchirp-- only for one of the kits to apparently have the same condition. He stole her and left, hoping twolegs could save her, but they've since been separated. Father of Beetlepaw, Crowpaw, an unnamed kit, Cricketpaw, and Concrete/Asterkit.

Concrete, formerly Asterkit, she/her, kittypet. 6 moons old currently; a longhaired silver point with blue eyes. Concrete was a shelter kitten who got adopted off of the internet and kept her funny name! She lives with a pair of upwalkers who love her very much, and she doesn't remember anything from ShadowClan or her bio family. Sister of Cricketpaw, half-sister of Beetlepaw and Crowpaw.

#wc #warrior cats #warriors #warriors oc clan #warriors oc #warrior cats oc #wc oc clan #wc oc #crowpaw story

[ask-tawnyfeather-au]

A New Friend

Tawnypelt padded into Thunderclan camp, her paws semi achy from the long trip across Shadowclan territory to get here. Beside her stood a large, stocky color pointed she cat with a moth wing tucked behind her ear, Mothwing, and on her other side was a tom around half her size with grey fur, his green gaze anxiously scanning the camp. Tawnypelt’s son, Nymphpaw.

Nymphpaw moved closer to his mother’s side as cats began to stare at their guests. He had never visited his mother’s birth clan before, he didn’t recognize anyone there besides his mother and aunt beside him. The latter of the she cats seemed to perk up at the sight of a lean brown tabby she cat making her way through the camp with some herbs.

Mothwing gave a bow to Tawnypelt before crossing to the she cat, pressing her head against hers happily. Nymphpaw looked up at his mother and stayed close as she ventured into the camp. Eventually a tom of a short and plump build stopped them. He had bright orange fur, reminiscent of fire to the young apprentice, and a warm smile.

“Tawnypelt,” he mewed, “Nice to see you visiting Thunderclan for a change, was beginning to worry you cats across the lake were stealing my old apprentice.”

Tawnypelt rolled her eyes, “Oh please Firestar, Riverclan has enough of my kin.”

Firestar looked down at Nymphpaw, the apprentice immediately ducked behind his mother’s tail, “And this must be Nymphpaw….stars…I haven’t seen you since you were a kit.”

Nymphpaw hesitantly returned the leader’s gaze, and saw nothing but warmth and comfort. He relaxed his muscles a bit, but remained behind his mother’s tail.

“He looks more like Graystripe everyday…” Though the tom recognized Firestar’s words as a compliment, he couldn’t help but pick up a hint of sadness behind it. He’d heard of Graystripe, Feathertail’s father and in turn, his grandfather. He was captured by Twolegs before he was born. He’d also heard of how close Graystripe and Firestar were.

The tortoiseshell molly ran her tail down Nymphpaw’s back to comfort him, “I brought Nymphpaw to give him a small break from his training, Hawkfrost has been pushing him a bit too far for my liking.” The mention of her half brother and son’s mentor made Tawnypelt’s gaze slightly cold. She didn’t care for how he trained Nymphpaw, turning the once talkative and social kit into a quiet and anxious ‘paw.

Firestar smiled at the Riverclan cats, “Well, you’re always welcomed here Tawny. Same goes to you Nymphpaw.” The apprentice looked up, “You are always welcomed here if things become too much.”

He exchanged a few more meows with his mother before padding over to a tall diluted orange she cat, greeting her with a gently head bump to the shoulder.

After a short and brisk tour of the camp, Tawnypelt settled beside some cats, Nymphpaw sitting down beside her, comforted by the warmth of her pelt. He looked at the Thunderclan warriors.

Seated across from his mother was a rotund white tom with long fur and blue eyes. He reminded Nymphpaw of a cloud. He had no idea how the tom’s pelt was so well kept, he had seen first hand from his mother how difficult it was to keep one’s light colored pelt clean.

Beside the cloud of a tom was a lean white she cat with ginger patches, and large scar over the left side of her face. He studied her and saw that the she cat had many scars, a bite mark on her shoulder and some scratch marks on her side and back. However, the she cat had a kind demeanor and looked lovingly at the white tom as he recounted a story. She must’ve sensed his staring, as she turned to look back at the young tom. He froze, worried he offended her by his staring, but he was surprised as she pointed to the bite mark on her shoulder.

“I got these from fighting dogs as an apprentice,” she exclaimed, she then turned back to Nymphpaw and made a gesture to his scar on his shoulder, “What about yours?”

The apprentice turned to look at his scar, he spoke softly, almost mumbling, “Training…..my mentor fought with his claws unsheathed.”

The she cat nodded and flicked her tail, “Didn’t know Riverclan fought so rough. I’ll have to be alert if I ever come across you in a fight.” She purred.

Nymphpaw returned her smile. He liked this molly.

He finally moved on the the third cat, another molly, but this one had a pale gray coat with darker spots of grey going down her back. He noticed her stomach looked slightly plump.

He was broke out of his observing by a tail on his back. It was much fluffier than his mother’s. He turned to see a large brown tabby tom with all sorts of flower petals in his thick fur. His uncle, Brambleflower.

Nymphpaw perked up and immediately buried his nose into the tom’s mane. He hasn’t seen Brambleflower since his apprentice ceremony and he missed the flowery scent he carried.

He purred in amusement and cupped his nephew’s ear playfully, “Heh, I missed you too bloom.”

Nymphpaw purred at his nickname. He missed being called that by the tom. He turned his head to rub his cheek into the fluffy mane, almost falling as Brambleflower moved back.

“Sorry,” he apologized, flashing a sheepish grin, “I was just about to take some bedding and replace the old ones in the nursery, I could use a paw.”

Nymphpaw spotted some of the newer bedding in a pile beside Brambleflower, presumably having set it down to speak with the ‘paw. Nymphpaw looked back at his mother, who gave a nod before returning to the tom speaking. He gave an eager nod and shot up to all fours.

The two carried the bedding to the nursery, which was a lot different than the one in Riverclan. Riverclan primarily built their dens out of rocks or discarded driftwood found in the lake, Thunderclan dug out a section of the ground and built a dome like structure above it made up of branches and moss.

The apprentice followed after his uncle and scanned the den. There were 4 beds, 3 of which were occupied by queens. A long furred cream she cat shared tongues with a dappled white tortoiseshell one. Tucked close to the cream molly’s stomach were three sleeping kits, likely a moon or two old. His eyes followed Brambleflower to the corner, where a small ginger she cat sat in her nest, her nose scrunched in annoyance.

He padded after him and set down his half of the bedding. The she cat barely noticed him as she spoke with Brambleflower.

“Leafpool said I wouldn’t even start showing til a half moon.” She grumbled.

Brambleflower placed his giant paw on top of the she cat’s head, pushing her down a little, “I know, I know. But considering your track record, we’d all feel a lot less worried if you stayed in the camp.”

The molly stuck out her tongue, “I blame Crowrunner.”

Brambleflower purred in amusement and turned to Nymphpaw before flicking his tail in his direction. This got the she cat’s attention as she looked at the gray ‘paw.

“No way,” she studied him for a brief moment, “Is this Nymphkit?”

The brown tabby nodded, “Only he’s Nymphpaw now,” he turned to his nephew, “Nymphpaw, this is Squirrelflight. She and her mate, Crowrunner, attended the journey to the sun-drown-place with me and your mothers.”

He recalled the story of the sun-drown-place. His uncle and mother had been chosen by Starclan to go there, along with a Shadow and Windclan cat. He knew of the Shadowclan cat, Rowanclaw. He was his other mother’s closest friend and Brambleflower’s mate. And looking at Squirrelflight, he began to remember her and her visits to the nursery.

She got up from her nest and bumped her head against his shoulder playfully, “Sorry it’s been so long kit, but it gets hard to make the journey to Riverclan. Especially when my flea-brain of a brother makes me cover for him.” She flicked her tail at Brambleflower’s nose at the last remark.

Nymphpaw gave a look of understanding, however he was more on Brambleflower’s end. Hawkfrost usually made him train, so he’d always ask his sister, Lionpaw, to take care of his chores around camp for him. He owed her big time for all she did.

Soon a lean, dark blueish black tom entered the nursery. He and Squirrelflight left, Nymphpaw assumed that was Crowrunner. He returned to the task at hand, changing bedding. He was asked to take Ferncloud’s bed, the only other unoccupied one, while he worked on Squirrelflight’s.

As he changed the bedding, his ears perked up at the sound of happy mewls. Bounding into the nursery we’re 3 kits, all she cats. A light brown dappled one wiggled her haunches and pounced on her white tortoiseshell sister. The now pinned kit batted at her sister to release her, all the while the third kit, a black tabby, pawed at her dappled sister’s tail.

“Girls,” the dappled tortie once sharing tongues with the other queen hissed, he presumed she was their mother, “Keep it down. Daisy’s kits are trying to sleep.”

Daisy pulled her kits closer, they hadn’t awoken or even stirred from their nap.

“Sorry momma.” The three said in unison.

The dappled kit hopped off of her sister and looked at Nymphpaw. The apprentice immediately went back to the bedding, praying they wouldn’t come over.

They came over.

They bounded around him as she tried to finish his task. They had introduced themselves as Honeykit, Poppykit, and Cinderkit.

“What’s your name?” Honeykit asked.

“How come we haven’t seen you around camp?” Cinderkit inquired.

“And why do you smell wike fish.” Poppykit scrunched up her nose.

“Girls.” Their mother spoke up again, Daisy placed a paw on top of hers and she took a breath, her tone changed to a warm and friendly one, “Why don’t you go see if your father can give you badger rides while Nymphpaw changes out the bedding.”

Honeykit and Poppykit bounded out of the nursery at the prospect of badger rides from their papa. Cinderkit stayed though. It was a little less overwhelming with just one curious kit, Nymhpaw supposed.

“So your name is Nymphpaw?”

He nodded.

“That’s a cool name. Momma said I’m named after her sister who fought a badger!”

Nymhpaw gave a small hum of interest. He was listening, and he was interested in the badger story.

“So where are you from? You smell like a fish so is it Riverclan?” She tilted her head.

Nymphpaw nodded and finished changing the bedding, padding over to Brambleflower, who was also finishing up. Cinderkit was at his heels.

The kit skidded in front of him and smiled up at him, “Do you like games?”

Nymphpaw craned his neck to look at his uncle, who gave a nod letting him know he was good to leave. He turned back to the kit and nodded slowly.

“Great! Cause there’s this one game I love where we pretend to be warriors. We usually play it with Berrykit, Mousekit, and Hazelkit, but they’re sleeping and Berrykit always calls leader.” She pouted.

He’d played something like that with his sister when they were kits. Lionpaw went around pretending to the fierce leader Lionstar, while Nymphpaw was her loyal deputy Nymphstrike. They’d do little tasks around the camp and boss around any warriors willing to play along. Nymphpaw flicked his tail.

Cinderkit lit up, “You’ll play? Awesome!” She beamed, “Do you want to be leader or deputy? If we get Poppykit and Honeykit to play you could be a warrior or medicine cat?”

Nymphpaw thought it over and eventually spoke, his voice barely above a whisper, “Deputy..”

Cinderkit staggered backwards, “Woah….you can speak!”

“Cinderkit!”

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to be rude,” she apologized, “you just didn’t talk a lot, your voice is nice though.”

Nymphpaw gave her a small smile. He knew she didn’t mean to be rude, plenty of Riverclan warriors had pointed out how little he spoke. He usually had Lionpaw to speak for him.

Cinderkit shook her fur and puffed up her chest, “Then I’ll be Cinderstar! And you shall be my deputy Nymph…” she studied him for a moment, “….stripe! Cause you got that stripe down your back.”

With that, Cinderstar and Nymphstripe made their way out of the nursery, Cinder leading the apprentice as she knew the camp better.

They approached Cinderkit’s sisters, Honeykit holding on to the fur of a golden brown tabby tom while Poppykit chased after them. The tom stopped and bent down for Honeykit to get off.

Honeykit ran over to the two, “Cinderkit!”

Cinderkit fluffed up her fur a little, “It’s Cinderstar!” She flicked Honeykit, “Me and Nymphpaw are playing warriors! Wanna join!”

“Ooh! Ooh!” Poppykit stumbled over to them, “Can I be a medicine cat!”

“Sure!” Cinderkit raised her paw, “From now on you will be dubbed…ummm…Poppyleaf! Thunderclan’s medicine cat!”

Poppy’leaf’ squealed with excitement.

“My turn! My turn!” Honeykit got in between them and flicked her tail from side to side, “I want a warrior name!”

“Hmmm….you shall be known as…” Cinderkit bapped Honeykit on the nose, “Honeyfur!”

Both kits mewled excitedly, their father spoke up.

“Does this mean I’ve been demoted from deputy.” He faked a pout and pinned his ears back, Cinderkit pushed him away.

“Sorry papa! Nymphstripe is just a better deputy.” Nymphpaw nodded. The tom purred in amusement.

“Well I guess I better start hunting for our new leader,” he licked the top of Cinderkit’s head, “You four have fun.”

The tom padded away from the kits, Nymphpaw watched him leave until Cinderkit nudged his side.

“Come on Nymphstripe!” She began, “We got a clan to lead!”

The game mainly consisted of pretending to do warrior things, like hunting with leaves and fixing imaginary injuries with miscellaneous plants Poppykit found around camp. Some warriors played along, bowing to Cinderstar and asked her what they should do. Nymhpaw’s whiskers twitched happily as he sat with the 3 sisters, all sharing a plump mouse Brackenfur, their father, had caught for them while on his hunt.

“You’re a lot of fun Nymphpaw,” Honeykit purred.

“Yeah!” Poppykit agreed, “We’ve never met a wivercwan cat before. Can you weally swim?”

Nymphpaw nodded, shifting a little in his seat. He felt a tail on his back, Cinderkit’s.

“Will you be able to visit again?”

He glanced away and shrugged, Honeykit and Poppykit immediately sighed. He liked hanging out with them, but they were only kits and would soon have their own apprentice duties while he had his. And Hawkfrost wouldn’t like him playing around with kits.

He shivered a little at the thought of his mentor, he almost forgot what he’d go back to.

“Well,” Cinderkit began, “If you don’t come back before we’re apprentices. You’ll have to sit with us at gatherings!” It was more of a demand than a request. Nymphpaw purred and nodded.

A warm feeling came over the apprentice as he watched the three share the mouse and talk. He loved hanging out with his sister, he considered Lionpaw to be his closest friend, but her friends never truly felt like his friends. More like they only hung out with him if Lionpaw was around. So it felt nice, to have friends he could call his own. The warm feeling stayed even after Tawnypelt and Mothwing said it was time to go.

Next story should be more plot based, til then though have Nymphpaw making friends :3

#warrior cats #warrior cats au

[darktreeroots]

Palestar’s Trials

Allegiances:

Leader: 

Stormstar - a pure black she-cat with golden eyes and a second star hidden on her stomach

Deputies:

Algaebrook - a dark tabby tom Frogheart- an elderly gray tom Mewlight - an elderly white spotted black tom

Medicine Cat: 

Wavespring - a spotted calico tom

Warriors: 

Adderstripe - a orange tom with a few white spots Sunnystalk - a yellow she-cat Sweetfang - a gray tabby tom

Queens: 

Bubbledrop - a spotted calico expecting mother Quailbreeze - a red tabby queen, mother of Poolkit, Palekit, Lavenderkit, and Deerkit

Elders:

Troutsplash - a beautiful old golden tabby she-cat

9.5k words, tws for ableism, transphobia, misgendering, and deadnaming

Palewince has worked long and hard to get to this point, season after season she had worked herself endlessly to become the best warrior she could be. 

Had it all been for naught? Would she be mocked even now?

No. Palewince thinks to herself, holding back her frown and her voice as the rest of her Clan gave a half-hearted cheer for the newest leader of LaurelClan, No I refuse to let this all mean nothing! Palewince stumbles backwards, wet moss squelching under her feet. The crowd parts behind her in a way they hadn’t for the leader when he emerged through the barrier leading the pack of deputies and medicine cats. 

Palewince turns and runs from camp. They all let her go. 

-

From the first moment that she knew that she could be, Palekit wanted to be leader of LaurelClan. They were the youngest Clan, so that meant that they needed to hold themselves to high standards. LaurelClan needed to prove that they were better than every Clan, but especially MarshClan to show them that they had lost their strongest warriors due to their pride. 

Out of her, Deerkit, Lavenderkit, and Poolkit, it was obvious that Palekit was the one who was going to become leader. She had the good sense to listen to her elders instead of scampering around playing moss ball or anything dull like that. Adderstripe had told her that she had the clean markings of a future leader. 

She had asked then, What about Poolkit? Because they had the same markings, just in opposing colors. Her father had laughed, looking out of the nursery at the writhing pile of limbs that were just outside. Poolkit was covered in muck. Somehow his pelt was covered in dirty water and he was making no attempts to clean himself. 

The markings are yours. Adderstripe had said with a wink, glancing back at the cream diamond on her back, I can imagine your second star going right there. For defense. Ah! Her father said aloud, before rolling over and landing directly on top of her. 

The other queens laughed at her as she squealed for help, clawing her way out of her father’s bulk. Right before she can get free, Adderstripe placed his paw on her head. 

Will this stop a future leader? He had asked her. 

-

It isn’t raining as she leaves camp, but she feels as if it should be.

-

There was a story that Palepaw always loved, no matter how old she was when it was being told. She had heard it first in the nursery from Bubbledrop and it was still Bubbledrop who told it the best. Palepaw doesn't call out before she enters the warrior’s den, carefully keeping to the edges of the weaved fern walls as she approaches the calico cat. 

Bubbledrop rose her head as she approached. Palepaw knew that she would have gotten a stinging rebuke for bothering her if what had kept her from calling out wasn’t the large carp in her mouth. The blood kept on flowing into her mouth and she was salivating after a long day of hunting but she would keep the carp for Bubbledrop. Only if Bubbledrop was in the mood to share would Palepaw get to eat the prey she had caught. 

“What is it you want from me?” Bubbledrop asked, but not unkindly. When Palepaw was a kit, Bubbledrop had barely talked to her and her siblings. Only after they had all left and Palekit was alone in the nursery would Bubbledrop even bother with her. Palepaw understood—kits were loud and annoying and always underfoot. Palekit worked hard to be better than her siblings and it was through that effort that she got so close to Bubbledrop. 

“I want to hear the story of our Clan again.” Palepaw requested, embarrassment prickling under her fur but she didn’t let it show. She had heard this story many times before from many people. Bubbledrop knew this and lets out a small sigh. Palepaw debated the idea of excusing herself and simple leaving but Bubbledrop patted the space beside her with her paw, allowing Palepaw to slide in beside her. 

Palepaw took it all in for a second, the clear air drifting in through the small holes in the barrier. They would need to be patched up with moss and clay and that would be her job. But that can be for later, now is for breathing in the clear air and feeling the soft moss beneath her pads and  pressing her body against the soft fur of Bubbledrop’s side. There is a hunger deep within her gut but if she acted right, she would be free from it. 

Newtwhisker was proud of her, as he always had been. She had just learned that if she flipped in the water that it did not help hunting at all but if there was a fish nearby then thrashing around to try and right herself would cause her to accidentally hook it with her claw and doing all that would look purposeful and impressive. (It wasn’t the former, but it was the latter.)

“I thought you heard this from someone else just the other day.”

“I don’t have many ‘other days’.” Palepaw pointed out. She had only been an apprentice for two moons and is one of the youngest cats in the Clan. She was still yet to learn the names of all her Clanmates.

“Humor the kit.” Purred Sunnystalk who was sitting beside her best friend. 

“I’m an apprentice!” Palepaw squeaked. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Sunnystalk replied before stretching, spreading out each of her paws and wriggling her butt like she’s about to pounce, “I’m going to go hunt something. I’ll be back soon.”

“Sure. Just leave me.” Bubbledrop called out. Sunnystalk’s only response as a flick of her tail, “Keep yourself clean. I don’t want you dragging that awful sickness back.”

Sunnystalk stopped for a moment and looks back at them, but the shadows fall over her yellow face and hid her expression. She didn’t say anything else before leaving the warrior’s den. 

“That cat…” Bubbledrop mumbled under her breath before she turned to Palepaw, “I would say that she’s nearly as bad as Wavespring if Wavespring wasn’t just so awful.” Palepaw nodded along. She knew well Bubbledrop’s issue with the medicine cat. After all, she had only been an apprentice for two moons, just a bit longer than Bubbledrop has been reinstated as a warrior. 

She was in the nursery when it all happened. It’s Wavespring’s fault that Palepaw and her siblings are the youngest cats in the clan. 

“Eh.” Bubbledrop took a huge bite out of the carp, tearing away the top layer of scales and revealing the soft pink meat underneath. Palepaw’s hunger doubled, renewed by the sight of food, “Laurelstar again. Fine. I can do that.”

Bubbledrop cleared her throat, “Many seasons ago, there were only three Clans. MountainClan, a secretive Clan that kept to their land into the white-tipped peaks and the caves that tore through the ground. They spoke to StarClan and interpreted their signs before they found the Moonhole and revealed it to all the Clans so that they wouldn’t be the only Clan with such power.”

“Which made them the most noble of the three Clans.”

“I was going to get to that.” Bubbledrop snapped. Palepaw lowered her ears and eyes in apology. Bubbledrop let out a snort before she continued. 

“CloudClan lived under the open sky, and the wind in the air flew inside of them and made them even faster than the breeze. ForestClan longed for the protective trees and settled down underneath them. However, they were the least noble of the three founding Clans and thus couldn’t remain like that. First it was ThinleafClan, claiming that their Clan was too restrictive and breaking off. Then it was MarshClan, due to their inherent corruption and lack of honor they were unable to live within ThinleafClan. 

“There were honorable cats within MarshClan, but many cats were silenced for speaking out and their ideas and lessons were ignored. Once such cat was a she-cat named Laurelpuddle. Laurelpuddle was fox-lengths ahead of any other cat when it came to intellect and that scared her leader and deputy. Being a brave and just member of her Clan she served them as well as she could, but was never even acknowledged by being given a deputy. 

She asked her leader over and over to have an apprentice, but she was refused. Laurelpuddle was mocked and cast aside, even when it came to her own name. 

“Laurelpuddle asked her leader over and over to have an apprentice, but she was refused. She was mocked and cast aside, even when it came to her own name. Laurelpuddle had always been different, preferring the clear waters at the edge of the territory to the swampy marshland that the Clan resided in. Still, because she was endlessly kind, she still decided to train her Clanmates to bear such waters, teaching them skills such as diving for fish and advanced swimming techniques. She trained nearly every cat in the Clan, from the youngest apprentice to the oldest warrior.

“Even so, Laurelpuddle would have been content to living and dying a loyal member of MarshClan had it not been for an appearance of the Rot.”

Palepaw shivered. Bubbledrop paused for a moment and finds nothing to say to her, so she continues. 

“The leader of MarshClan claimed that covering one’s fur with mud could keep the Rot at bay—that covering up the beautiful fur that StarClan blessed us with was the solution to their punishment. When Laurelpuddle disagreed with that horrible idea, she was nearly forced into exile by their leader. The only reason she wasn’t is because the deputy wanted to keep her as an example of what happens when you go against the leader. 

“They forced Laurelpuddle to work with the sick cats without any medicine cat training, fully intending her to become ill with Rot. Even when the ill cats were forced away from camp, Laurelpuddle was forced to go with them. 

However, she returned a few moons later free of Rot and announced that she was going to found a new Clan using the fallen seeds of a rotten plant. Many cats followed Laurelpuddle and she established this Clan, using herself as the first seed for the Clan to sprout from.” Bubbledrop gestures with her paw to the den, “She saw potential in this place, just as she did every one of us. Potential that we have to work hard to live up to every day for—”

A scream rang through camp, high-pitched in the way that only an apprentice’s could be. Bubbledrop was up in a moment, trampling over the remains of the carp. Palepaw’s stomach twisted painfully but she ignored it in favor of following the warrior into camp. 

“What happened?” A cat whose name Palepaw doesn’t know asked. She can only shake her head in reply, following Bubbledrop as they head for the turned over log at the end of camp, nearby a small stream. 

Just as they approached, Wavespring comes out carrying Poolpaw by the scruff who looks completely unapologetic after he’s disturbed the medicine cat. Palepaw smoothed down their fur, an apology ready on her tongue before a cat interrupted them. 

“What happened?”

“Just a kit getting where they don’t belong.” Wavespring tossed Poolpaw to the side. Her brother landed heavily and winces but the proud expression on his face doesn’t leave as he whirled around and shot back a sharp retort. 

“What do you mean, where I don’t belong? It’s the medicine den. The only thing that changed in there is Sweetfang! What happened to his fur? Why is there so little of it?”

“Nothing happened—” Wavespring began but before he can regret his words, Bubbledrop interjected, shoving herself to the front of the crowd with Palepaw on her heels. With every step, Palepaw sunk into the soft moss. With every step, Bubbledrop’s unsheathed claws tore moss out of the ground. 

“What? Happened?” Bubbledrop growled as she comes to stop a few tail-lengths away from the medicine cat who only gave her a derisive glance before pushing Poolpaw behind him, “Wavespring! Answer me!”

“I don’t answer to you.” The medicine cat replied with a bored expression, “I answer only to the leader. I don’t want to deal with your emotions. As far as you are concerned, Sweetfang is fine.” He held his ground with a lash of his tail and bared teeth, “Checking on him will not make him any better.”

“Hmm.” Bubbledrop said, before whipping around to glare at Poolpaw, “Well, since someone wants to lie to me today, I guess I’ll have to look to a kit for the truth.”

“I’m not a kit!” 

“Good. Kits lie like medicine cats do.”

“I’m not lying—”

“Was Sweetfang breathing? Was my mate alive?” Bubbledrop asked him, looming over Poolpaw. With an impossibly smug look on his face, Poolpaw shook his head. 

“You—!” Bubbledrop rose her paw to give Palepaw’s brother a rightful strike but before she could do so a yellow cat raced past Palepaw and lets out a wordless cry as she dove between Bubbledrop and Poolpaw. Bubbledrop stopped herself at the very last moment. She hissed at Sunnystalk as the other she-cat stood in front of Palepaw’s still smirking brother, blocking him from view. 

“Bubbledrop!” Sunnystalk pleaded, “Don’t lose your head. Please, just for a moment—”

Bubbledrop lunged forward, faster than Palepaw can follow. She grabbed Sunnystalk by the neck and in one swift motion, snapped her Clanmate’s neck, tossing her limb body to the side. The yellow cat hit the ground with a thud and even now Poolpaw still looks smug as the raging warrior came to loom over him. Wavespring stood beside her brother, not a whisker out of place. 

“Sweetfang’s blood is on your incompetent hands.” Bubbledrop snarled. 

“I didn’t kill him.” Wavespring replied calmly, stepping away from her swipe, “But it seems as if you will believe in whatever you want instead of listening to reason. As always.”

“You’re no brother of mine!” Bubbledrop leaped on top of the medicine cat, and it takes only a moment until they’re a ball of hissing and claws, holding onto each other so tightly that neither of them could escape. Only when a cat leaped between them, getting clawed by both sides do they halt. 

A yellow cat—Sunnystalk?—stood between them, fur wet and with blood running down their sides. 

“For once in your lives can you two get a handle on yourself! Dealing with your constant drama is ridiculous. It’s exhausting, it’s—”

“What is that sound?” Poolpaw said from beside her, ears perked, not paying attention to the situation that he so crudely caused. They all paused for a second, listening to the soft sounds and the three adults turn back to the medicine den in horror. 

Hack hack hack. 

Hack hack hack. 

Hack…and then silence. 

As Wavespring ran into the medicine cat den with Sunnystalk and Bubbledrop right on his heels, Palepaw looks at Poolpaw. He still looked unconcerned. 

Rage bubbles in her stomach. Her claws unsheathed. She kept them pressed into the moss. 

-

This can’t be! Palewince tells herself as she paces in a small pool of water. It barely comes up to her stomach, weighing down her fur. She feels it with every step she takes, the wrongness close to the added water weight. There’s no way that StarClan truly let this happen!

No. Palewince tells themself as they look up at the moon in the distance. It’s normally dim during the day but Palewince cannot find it. For a moment, she believes that this is a sign, that it means the new leader was chosen against the will of StarClan—but then she sees it again. Dimmer than usual, nearly eclipsed by the sun. 

…Is this your sign for me, StarClan? The moon, being swallowed up by the sun? Are you telling me that I am being blocked away? 

Palewince digs her claws into the wet muck under the pool, staring up at the sky, Are you telling me to do something—no, you must be. There isn’t a chance that you want me to stand aside. I won’t believe it!

Or are you telling me that I must become the sun and overshadow the one chosen by the moon? Is this a call to action or a cry of despair?

She hisses, And it’s not as if I can ask Wishstream to interpret. She’d just tell me that it was just the sun or something inane like that. 

Is that why your directions have been so muddled? Is this why you let him become deputy in the first place—an incompetent medicine cat that wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a sign and a fish’s scales?

“So I cannot trust her.” Palewince tells herself.

“Who can you not trust?” Replies her daughter as she strolls up. Palewince takes a moment to berate herself—of all the scents to miss!—and turns to face Cypressfire. Her daughter keeps a calm, level stare as she strolls up as if she expects her mother to explode at any moment. Not an incorrect assumption, but Cypressfire should know better than to expect such a reaction from her mother. 

Whether wind, fire, or rain, Palewince would keep calm. 

“Wishstream.” Palewince says curtly. Cypressfire quickly bows her head in agreement. How much their medicine cat was lacking was a widely known secret. Palewince didn’t know what she was expecting from the apprentice of Wavespring, but she didn’t think she was expecting things to get even worse than a kin-killer. 

“I believe that I’ve just gotten an message from StarClan.” Palewince says, “But I cannot trust her to interpret it.”

Cypressfire tilts her head, “And of course making it to the Moonhole is impossible.”

Palewince pauses, one paw in the air. Water drips down her paw and hits the water in droplet. She pays it no mind.

“No. StarClan is on my side.” She turns around, heading toward the deep end of the pool. This place connected to one of the major rivers. Once she got to the Gathering Island, she knew where to head. And when she was lost? StarClan would guide her the rest of the way. 

“I will be back. With answers.”

Palewince dives into the water, confident down to every last hair on her pelt. 

-

“Do you want to take a nap? It’s been a stressful half-moon.” Newtwhisker asked, almost nuzzling up against her. She didn’t pull away from her mentor but she did shake her head, still staring at the turned-over and hollowed out tree trunk. Her parents were fretting inside, it’s basically become their second home. 

“I’m fine. I’m going to ask Stormstar if I can go out on a border patrol.”

Newtwhisker shook his head, “Algaebrook wants to bolster up the fresh-kill pile a bit. Ah—” Newtwhisker looked back toward the already large pile of prey. Palepaw had just eaten and she swore that some things were about to go rotten soon. She lamented the stupidity of the deputy who is also the leader of her family. 

She flicked her whiskers, “Is Stormstar still insisting that we don’t try take some land from MarshClan?”

Newtwhisker shuddered down to the tip of his tail. Palepaw wondered how such a conflict-averse cat was allowed to become a warrior. It seems likely that he would flee in the face of battle like MarshClan’s Asternewt. There have been many times that Palepaw wished that she got a senior warrior as a mentor, she can only guess that it’s because she was leagues ahead of her siblings and the young warrior needed to have an apprentice sometime. 

“Yeah, and for that I’m glad. You’re too young to see battle yet. Training is more than enough for you.” Newtwhisker pressed his muzzle to the top of her head, “So, want to hunt with me?”

“I was thinking of going out with Crimsonpaw, actually.” She lied. 

Newtwhisker let out a happy purr, “Oh, let me not come between young love then.” Her mentor slipped away and she’s thankful for it. There’s not a doubt in her mind that Crimsonpaw would agree to go out hunting with her without any complaints, but it was better to avoid any complicated questions like when they had time to plan this out. 

Someone yowled in the hollowed out tree trunk and something came stumbling out. 

A stupid mistake made flesh and fur. 

Palepaw rose to her feet and sought out her siblings. At the very least she knows that Deerpaw and Lavenderpaw haven’t been consumed by the newest trend of worrying over a cat that caused all of his problems. 

Deerpaw was missing, but Lavenderpaw was sticking across camp from the medicine den. She looked worn out and haggard, fur clumped in some places as she stared at the small hollow that held their parents. Palepaw remembered that Lavenderpaw had been the one to scent MarshClan scent past their border lines and had started the whole argument between Stormstar and his deputies. She remembered that Lavenderpaw was so excited to tell their parents about what they had found. 

Palepaw looked at Lavenderpaw and is overwhelmingly aware of the cleanliness of her own fur compared to her sister. She turned to find Crimsonpaw instead. 

-

The Gathering Island is as beautiful as it always is, but Palewince doesn’t pause as she reaches it, climbing onto the bank and shaking out her fur before she continues onto MountainClan territory. 

-

“It was such a shame to lose such a loyal warrior so early.” Stormstar told her privately. Their leader is pure black except for the jagged scar down her shoulder. Her second star is hidden someone that no cat can seem to find, “But I have faith that you are able to adapt to this situation and come out stronger for it.”

Palepaw nodded. She wondered if she’s supposed to look penitent. She wondered how to do that. After all, Newtwhisker’s death was not a surprise, nor was it a great tragedy. Newtwhisker had no potential, he had barely risen to the occasion of being her mentor and heavily relied on the senior warriors despite being an apprentice himself only a few moons prior. She wouldn’t be surprised if he died during an attempt to flee. 

“I won’t disappoint you.” Palepaw told her new mentor, chosen via convenience because there was only about a half-moon until she was required to train under her leader anyhow. Stormstar nodded, amber eyes turning away from her and back to the raging river in front of them, “How many fish do you want me to catch?”

“More than you can carry.” Stormstar said in return. 

Palepaw jumped into the river and drowned. 

-

She’s been this path before, seasons ago. Back then their last true leader lead Palewince and her siblings all the way to the Moonhole after Palewince’s insistent requests and ability to tell which cats would be the most likely to have mercy on a grief-stricken apprentice and pass the message onto to Stormstar. 

Palewince pushes back her ears and bears the cold wind as it comes down the mountain. Her paws hurt just as much as they did when she was an apprentice—LaurelClan land was wet and soft, nothing like the dry grasses and hard pebbles under her feet. 

Not many LaurelClan cats made this journey these days, for while they are one of the closest Clans to the Moonhole, it just was never highlighted. The only way Palewince learned of it was from a few BroadleafClan cats, proudly cawing like ravens about the experience. Palewince had wanted to take it not for the simple reason of becoming a warrior—she had wanted to know her destiny. 

Clearly, she was greater than her siblings. She had been since birth. There had to be something waiting for her—and there was. An unknown cat had come down from the sky, stars laced in her pelt. The brightest star was the one on her back.

Laurelstar had told her that she was going to do great things for her Clan, that she must never let her head fall. They would be trials, but she would succeed in every last one of them. 

Palewince lowers her head to brace herself against a particularly harsh wind. She ignores the pain that lingers in her body and pushes herself further forward. This is only another trial. And I will succeed. 

-

Palepaw raised her head and breathes in the clear air. The scent of sickness that had lingered nearly her entire life had dissipated just a moon or two earlier and she had learned what it truly meant for the air to smell like home. It was like ferns and and clay and water and prey. It was like every cat she had ever known. 

“I, Stormstar, leader of LaurelClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn.”

She sat taller.

“Palepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

“I do.” Is there any other choice?

“Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Palepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Palewince. StarClan honors your intelligence and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of LaurelClan.”

The entire Clan started calling out their names and Palewince basks in the attention while thinking to herself. Wisdom and skill. Were those the traits that stood out most for me? Though I guess that Lavenderswallow got honesty and energy which aren’t that positive. I mean, what does it mean if someone compliments you on being energetic? 

Commitment doesn’t describe Deerspots at all, nor patience, but I guess Stormstar was trying to instill those in her instead of actually describing her. 

…

Palewince glanced over at her only brother. She had noticed the brief look on his face when he was given his warrior name, but he doesn’t know why he even bothered to be annoyed at it. It fit him after all—giving him a different name would be a mistake. Cats like Rockstep and Graymoon and Scorchtree and Snowdance may complain but really, what else was Stormstar supposed to do? Give them LaurelClan names?

They weren’t LaurelClan cats, they were barely better than parasites. MountainClan didn’t want them, why should they?

Halfleg looked back at her, but Palewince had already moved onto the vicious she-cat glaring at her from the other side of camp. Floodburn didn’t even try to conceal her hatred. Palewince looked back and winked. 

Resilience and dedication really are the only words to use for you, Halfleg—and really it’s only one word!

-

Palewince doesn’t know where to go, but does not admit it. Instead she prays and hopes that someone will show her the way. 

-

“All cats who are old enough to catch their own prey, gather under the HighWillow for a Clan meeting!” Stormstar yowled just as she enters camp. Palewince flicked her tail, irritated. The border patrol that she had been leading separates. Flameback paused for a moment, aiming a long look at his former mentor. 

Palewince shook her head. She had no clue what this is about—she had only spent two moons as Stormstar’s apprentice but had made an effort to stay around the leader and listen to her complaints. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was closer to their leader than Algaebrook was and he was one of her deputies. 

If there was going to be a Clan meeting, then surely she would have been told ahead of time. Especially so since she would have missed it entirely if she spent any more time on the border patrol. 

The clan collected slowly—it’s midday and many warriors were taking naps while apprentices worked on their duties. There is so little movement from the elder’s den that Palewince catches an apprentice’s eye and quickly jerked her head toward them in a sign that they need to be woken up. 

“Hurry up.” Stormstar snapped, lashing her tail, “Or do I lead a lazy Clan?”

“Of course you don’t.” Palewince called out as she comes to the front of the crowd. 

“I’d like to debate that idea.” Muttered her brother. Palewince quickly unsheathed a claw and pressed it into their remaining front paw. Halfleg winces but doesn’t cry out. He’s used to the tactics she used to keep him quiet. It’s for his own good really—a cat as lacking as he should know when to not cause trouble. 

It takes a few minutes for the Clan to collect in numbers enough that Stormstar is satisfied with. Her eyes blazed gold. “After many many moons of being undermined and talked back to and given advice so horrendous that at times I’m not sure that I’m speaking to a cat or one of the Rotten, or even a wolf—but no longer! Algaebrook is no longer a member of LaurelClan—”

Immediately there’s noise. Loudest of all is Algaebrook, loudly protesting their sudden expellment.

What does she mean no longer a member?!

“Stormstar! Did you forget what it means to be loyal to your elders! I’m appalled!” The dark tabby yowled, using the same arguments that Palewince would overhear in front of the leader’s den, “I have served you for seasons—”

“Poorly.” 

“And I have earned—”

“Nothing.”

“You—!”

“Get off of LaurelClan land.” Stormstar leaned down, leering at the former deputy—the former LaurelClan cat, “If you are seen here by the next sunrise, then you will be killed on sight. I don’t need weak cats like you.”

“Please! Please Stormstar!” Troutflash called out. Apparently the elder was fully awake now, awake enough to fall on her stomach in front of the HighWillow, “I beg of you. My mate will not survive alone.”

“I won’t—” Algaebrook started, indignant before Troutflash turns to him. It’s a quick look, accompanied by words that Palewince is just far enough to not hear but somehow it’s enough for Algaebrook to stop mid word. And after a few moments, he lowered himself as well, bowing in front of Stormstar. 

The smile that she gave is one that only a leader can truly have—the look of a cat who has gotten everything they wanted and the last thing in their way has bowed its head and let them have their way with it. Palewince basked in its light. 

She cackled, “Well if you’re going to bow and beg for forgiveness I guess that I can’t be too harsh on you, can I?” Stormstar stretched out her paw, rhythmically sheathing and unsheathing her claws, “But I can’t just let you get your old position back, can I?”

“The new deputy of LaurelClan has already been chosen!”

Algaebrook opened his mouth, Troutflash closes it with her tail. She looked up at Stormstar, expectant. 

Of course it’s not going to be you. Palewince thought, mind flying, She hates Algaebrook, why would she ever chose his mate to replace him? No, Stormstar needs a cat that was under Algaebrook, someone related to him but not so closely kin as to be under his influence. 

Adderstripe’s mother was from the same litter as Troutflash—and my family is under Algaebrook’s deputyship. She needs a cat who has already trained an apprentice! Deerspots and Lavenderswallow haven’t trained one yet and Halfleg has only been training Mistpaw for a moon! 

There’s also Hollowbass and Goldenhaze, but there’s no way that Stormstar would chose HalfClan kits as a deputy!

So it must be me!

Stormstar turns and looked directly at her. Oh her eyes as so gold. 

“Halfleg will be the new deputy of LaurelClan!”

W h a t?

Palewince looked at her brother, who is smugly looking back at her. 

-

The winds are harsh, but she can be harsher. 

-

“It’s your fault.” Palewince snapped, voice choked with grief, “It’s your fault our sister is dead!”

Rain had descended mid-way through the vigil, so Stormstar had cut it off early. He had slunk out of camp and Palewince had followed him, unwilling to let her thoughts go unheard. The rain has grown heavier but that doesn’t hide the furious look on Halfleg’s face when he looked back at his sister and snarls. 

“Are you saying this because you’re sad she’s dead, or because you just want to piss me off?” Halfleg snarled at him, “It’s not my fault that she died. She should have known better than to try to take her own leg off. Her death has nothing to do with me.” 

Palewince stares at her brother, cruel words ringing in her ears. 

“She died trying to be like you.”

Halfleg stares at her, golden eyes slowly narrowing, “And that was her mistake. Not mine. Look at me,” Halfleg raises up their partially missing leg. It has long grown fur over the wound, but he can never regrow the limb. 

It had, in a way, redefined Halfleg’s life. 

In a way, it had changed nothing at all. He was still the crude, unrefined, headstrong cat that he had been as Poolkit. There was still nothing that phased him, no matter how much worse he made life for all the cats that were around him. Still, when Palewince told him all of this Halfleg would deflect and turn his back on her. 

“I wish that you had tried to hack your leg off instead of Lavenderswallow.” Halfleg growled as he ungracefully slinks toward camp, “Leave me alone. I’m going to bed. It’s been a long night for every except you apparently.”

“It would have been better if you had died that day.” Palewince said truthfully. Halfleg stops. 

“Well, isn’t it such a shame that I didn’t?” Halfleg lashed his tail, “But StarClan hath not stricken me down so I guess that I am acceptable enough.”

-

Palewince may be lost, but she was right when she was depending on someone to come and save her. She just didn’t expect it to be someone that she recognized. MountainClan cats rarely came to Gatherings, the only time they could be counted to come was when they had a change in leadership. It was moons ago that they last appeared, the same moon that their false leader had gotten Mistpaw as an apprentice and a few moons before Mistpaw’s death. 

This cat, though? Well their appearance must be a sign. 

“Palewince of LaurelClan, correct?” Says the former leader of MountainClan. Choruswhisper’s head barely comes up to her chin but there’s a clear air of command about them…though that might be the cat that stands beside them. Palewince doesn’t know their name, for she only learned the names of the deputy and the leader. 

“Correct.” Palewince nods before shivering, “I need to speak to StarClan.”

The cat beside her sighs, “And I presume that you are unwilling to hear them through us?”

Palewince shakes her head, in part to say no and in part to get out the light whispering that seemed to surround her head. 

The cat sighs again. 

“Stonecall, don’t sigh like that.” Choruswhisper presses their head into the larger cat’s mane, “It’s not like we have much to do now. We can try and help her at least.”

The cool-faced Stonecall looks between them before whishing their tail against the thin layer of slow on the ground. Apparently that’s is a Okay I guess I’ll lead her with you because that very neutral expression was enough sigh for Choruswhisper to visibly brighten, curling their tail toward Palewince. 

“Let’s go then. Just keep close to me.” Choruswhisper winks, “And if you hear whispers in your ears, ignore them! The dead had their chance, they get no do-overs!”

The expression (at least Palewince thinks it is an expression) is slightly worrying, but she is in no position to argue. Even without snowstorms, MountainClan territory is not one that she could survive on her own. Every cat that lived here needed to have so much fur that they were more fluff than cat—every unfortunate litter that had a short-haired cat was immediately cast down the mountain to warmer lands. 

The words of StarClan are never to be ignored, but Palewince is not in a position to argue that. Definitely not after her long day of travel. 

She bows her head and follow after them. 

The ground is scraggly and hurts her paws, but she follows Choruswhisper’s footsteps the best she can. There’s no pools of water as far as the eye can see, but she knows that if there was one that it wouldn’t be like home. It would be freezing cold and drag her under in moments. 

Not like this place isn’t already cold enough. Palewince thinks as the wind begins to blow full force. 

Choruswhisper glances back at her. They aren’t even shivering. 

“We’re going into the tunnels.” They say curtly. Stonecall throws them a quick look—Palewince knows that Choruswhisper stepped down after a disastrous cave-in—but Choruswhisper doesn’t meet their eye and instead changes direction. Palewince follows because she must, even though there is a second of hesitation as the former leader disappears into a tunnel.

“Do not be scared.” Choruswhisper tells her, voice bouncing against stone, “I will keep you safe.”

Palewince glances back at Stonecall, but the angry glare that she gets in return startles her. Apparently daring to question Choruswhisper is a sin to them. 

I will be fine. StarClan led me here. I am here with the former leader of MountainClan and a cat named Stonecall. I am being called here. I will be safe. 

The darkness swallows her up. 

“Keep your nose on the tip of my tail.” Choruswhisker commands so Palewince does so, pressing her face into their fluffy tail, “I know that you’ve had a long journey. It’s not much farther.”

It definitely feels like that to Palewince. The cold has eased under the tunnels but the hard ground has not. Every step is painful, but she cannot stop. With every moment that passes an undeserving cat rules over LaurelClan for a moment longer. 

LaurelClan is a young and honorable Clan. They cannot have someone bring them down. 

“Is this it?” Palewince asks hoarsely as the tunnels begin to light up for something other than the glowing mushrooms that dotted the walls. The two MountainClan cats had been having idle discussions between each other which Palewince had kindly participated in for every moment that she could before she was just too exhausted. 

“Yes.” Stonecall replies curtly. 

“All your exhaustion will be gone by the next morning.” Choruswhisper tells her, “And we will stay by your side that you can leave safely the next morning.”

Palewince nods with responding, pushing past Choruswhisper to take the front of the back. The glow grows stronger for every step that she takes, until she’s in a small clearing so stunning that Palewince is irritatingly aware of just how much her body hurt. 

She takes a step forward, paws on the blissfully soft grass. 

And then she’s asleep and her dreams are full of stars. 

She opens her eyes, blinking the stars out of her eyelashes and looks out at a camp that is hers but clearly is not. For one, the HighWillow is much larger and the leaves have turned an ethereal silver. The moss on the ground glitters with starlight. 

There is Laurelstar, looking down at her. 

Palewince starts to scramble to her feet. 

“Be calm, child.” Laurelstar says, “I do not blame you for being on the ground. That is how all cats enter without a specific calling.”

“Let her get up.” Remarks another cat. As she gets up, Palewince looks along the branches of the HighWillow. Near the outside edge there is a pure black cat with golden eyes and two glowing stars. “She always surprises me. Let her continue to do so.” Stormstar says. 

Palewince bows her head in respect.

“See?” Stormstar says. 

“It does not matter if she surprises you or not.” Laurelstar snaps, “You surprised me but I wouldn’t call that a good thing.”

Stormstar gives Laurelstar a level stare but does not respond.

Laurelstar sighs, “As you know, my Palewince, it was a mistake to let Halfleg become leader. The bigger mistake was allowing him to become deputy in the first place, but that was not an error that myself or you made.”

“I still can’t believe you let that half-cat become your deputy.” A tortoiseshell tom remarks. 

“I still can’t believe that StarClan sought fit to let three completely incapable deputies remain for as long as they did.” Stormstar replies calmly, “Don’t dare try to tell me that you would have let Algaebrook become Algaestar.” She shudders.

…They said that Halfstar was a mistake? So why are they now speaking as if the other two deputies do not exist?

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Laurelstar snaps back, “But could you have not chosen any other cat to replace that oaf as deputy? A good replacement is right here and has clearly wondered why she wasn’t chosen dozens of times herself.”

“I needed a cat who would truly show Algaebrook just how easy he was to replace? What does it say if you’re replaced by a cat that’s missing a leg and can barely hunt or fight?”

“You needed a cat who could be your successor. Why did you replace him moons ago?” Laurelstar snaps at Stormstar.

She shrugs, “I mean, I had two worse deputies. It was worth keeping him around. It’s not like he wasn’t qualified or anything like that.”

“Mistpaw died.”

“Mistpaw was alive at that point.” Stormstar placidly licks her paw, “And I didn’t expect much from him to begin with. I doubted that he could ever become a warrior.”

“Mistpaw was only partially deaf.” Another leader replies, “If he was fully deaf then that treatment I could understand.”

“Mistpaw was partially deaf and fully dull.” Stormstar replies, “If you had been watching as much as you talk back then you would have noticed that. Giving them to any other warrior would have been a disservice.”

“Quiet you two.” Laurelstar snaps, “Not in front of our guest who has traveled so far to hear from us. We only have her for the night, and even that can slip away from us so easily. What is it you came to ask from us, traveler?”

“I believe you already know.” Palewince says, head lowered in deference, “But I was going to ask you if Halfstar was really the righteous leader of LaurelClan? He has not earned the position.”

“Brightstar earned the position by being the best worst option.” Laurelstar replies dully, “And yes, I do honor that name. Like it our not, StarClan did willingly bestow on him all nine lives.” 

Laurelstar sighs, “The situation was as thus that Lichentail and Whirlnose were both wildly incapable. Nevermind the amount of times they had gone behind their leader’s back or broken the code, both of them should have been put in the elder’s den seasons ago. Giving them nine lives is just begging for LaurelClan to fall.

“The issue came with Halfleg being chosen as deputy. There were many cats better suited to that position. However, considering current events…there is no doubt in my mind that you have been very badly insulted by not being chosen as deputy that day or any day after that.” Laurelstar glances back at Stormstar. 

“If the great leader will allow me to interrupt,” Stormstar says, voice dripping with sarcasm. Laurelstar reveals her teeth but allows her to continue, “I have to agree with her. Making Halfleg deputy to spite Algaebrook was a mistake. While he didn’t make enough problems to make replacing him something I needed to do immediately, it’s clear that a cat like himself cannot be leader. 

“You would have been the better choice. There is no mistake in my mind that you could have lead LaurelClan into an era perhaps as bright as mine.”

A cat scoffs. 

“If you want to deal with Heronstar and Fawnstar, then be my fucking guest.” Stormstar snaps behind her, “...Although.”

“You’re having an awful thought.” Laurelstar says. 

“It’s only awful if you’re looking at it the right way.” Stormstar says with a wink that goes by so fast that Palewince thinks that she imagined it, “After all…both Heronstar and Fawnstar are in our ranks despite what they did. Heronstar led a violent coup and Fawnstar killed his own father yet it’s not uncommon to see those three playing like kits together.”

Stormstar chuckles, “I mean…it is only right, right? This mistake must be fixed. And look who has delivered ourself right to our doorstep to fix it.”

Palewince is quick to calm their expression. She was already aware of the violent coup, it had happened midway through her apprenticeship. It is part of the reason why her first mentor perished, in battle against MarshClan when they tried to take advantage of their supposed weakness. 

But Fawnstar killed her father? Fawnstar was killed barely two seasons ago but no one protested her leadership. If Palewince had been told this by another other than a StarClan cat, she wouldn’t have believed it. If Stormstar was alive then she simply would not have believed it. Palewince wasn’t aware of Fawnstar’s family line other than his disgraced siblings but…wasn’t there a deputy that disappeared under strange circumstances once? Or was it a medicine cat?

Even so, Fawnstar was made deputy after Asternewt stepped down, right? Did she kill the former deputy to threaten Asternewt into stepping down? That would make sense as to why Asternewt is still deputy now, despite her cowardice. She must feel like she has earned the position after all that she went through. 

And then, playing like kits?

Palewince moves on from that thought quickly. It doesn’t interest her. 

Then comes the final thing. 

This mistake must be fixed. 

A solution has delivered herself right to our doorstep to fix it. 

“Are you telling me that I should become leader?”

One leader sighs an all-suffering sigh, “I thought you said that she was going to be surprising. Why is she questioning us?”

“She’s questioning us because asking if we want her to kill her brother nine times and become leader is too straight-forward.” Laurelstar says, looking down at her with slitted eyes. Palewince knows that her every reaction is being judged, even the ones she tries to suppress, “Which is smart of her. If we have misinterpreted her, then we would simply never let her leave our skies.”

…If?

“Congratulations, Palewince. Well, soon to be Palestar,” Stormstar crows, barely trying to suppress her laughter, “Now you get to fix the error that these ones have too little on their plate to try and forget.” She lies down on the branch, gesturing with her paw. 

“I guess that the elegance and wisdom is learned with time…” A she-cat says, a bit closer to Laurelstar. Stormstar glares at her. She gets no look back. 

“Ignoring them,” Laurelstar begins, “The choice for deputy to replace him is obvious. After that, simply kill Brightstar nine times over. Do not worry about consequences, StarClan has given you the blessing to go and do this. So go forth and put the leadership of LaurelClan in four good paws.”

-

Go and retrieve everything that is owed to you. 

Laurelstar’s words still linger in her ears as she strolls into camp. After visiting the Moonhole she felt revitalized and the trip that took from sunhigh until late night only took from dawn to just before sunhigh. When she steps into camp, she keeps her head held high.

“Brightstar!” She calls out, strong voice ringing through camp. Most cats stop to turn and look at her, activities halt completely as she stalks up to the leader’s den and pokes her head inside. 

Palewince barely misses the unsheathed paw that took a swipe at her muzzle and moves away to allow her sibling to get out of the den. He seems to have perfected a look between smug and irritated. He bares his teeth at her. 

“What are you doing here? I thought that you had finally stopped being a thorn in my side.”

Palewince starts to respond but the second cat that comes out of the leader’s den speaks before she can, “I can make her stop.” Floodburn snarls, “Just give me the word.”

“I’m not going to let you kill my sister.” He says, exasperated. 

Floodburn shrugs, “One of us has to be open to the idea.”

“So you let your mate threaten my life? What kind of leader are you?” Palewince snaps, looking between the two cats, “I am here after making a visit to the Moonhole to speak to StarClan myself. LaurelClan, listen to my words!”

Palewince crouches to pounce and climb up the HighWillow, but her brother shifts to stand in front of her. A clear sign that she would not be allowed up, even if she took a different approach. Palewince was confident that she could get around her brother, but Floodburn? Well she wasn’t going to risk her image to chance it. 

“StarClan has made it known to me that Stormstar wishes to fix an error of hers! Lichentail and Whirlnose may have too much respect to admit it—” Ha! “—but both of them were chosen as incapable of becoming leader for reasons I will leave up to StarClan on their day of judgment.” 

Palewince doesn’t look at either of the two deputies. She knows that they’re looking at her.

“Any cat who was deputy would have been chosen as leader over them, from the youngest kit to the eldest apprentice! It—”

“So you’re saying that Lichentail and Whirlnose have broken the warrior code?” A cat calls out. Palewince sends her strongest glare in their direction and lashes her tail. A few cats start to whisper and she slams her paw on the ground, a signal for silence. 

“As I was saying, it was not because of his virtues or any of his attributes that Brightstar was made leader! I went to StarClan and Laurelstar herself told me that I should have been made deputy in Brightstar’s place!” 

A gasp, shared by the entire Clan. 

“But since I know patience, I have come back with StarClan’s blessing that I should become deputy to replace Brightstar after his ascension to leader.”

And then soon become leader after that~

“That is all.”

Palewince turns to her brother. 

Brightstar looks back at her and then lurchingly climbs up the HighWillow. There are several points where he nearly falls and at one point Palewince swears he does. 

“Cats of LaurelClan!” Brightstar calls out, “The new deputy of LaurelClan is Floodburn. That is all.” Brightstar leaps from the HighWillow and lands on his face. His body slams into the ground and all of his bones shatter. Then Palewince goes back to the Moonhole and is given her nine lives because there’s no way that StarClan would ever allow Floodburn to be made leader instead of her. 

Brightstar leaves camp, Floodburn in tow. Palewince steps on their heels, hissing lowly. 

“You can’t make your mate deputy! That’s against the rules!”

“Ah yes, those wonderful rules.” Brightstar says bitterly. A few cats follow them out of camp but seem to have the good sense to quickly disperse after the false leader and false deputy glare back at them and tell them to beat it. Palewince gracefully asks them to leave them alone, “Those wonderful rules that have served me so kindly.”

“Have you forgotten the code?” Palewince snaps.

“Has the code forgotten me?” Brightstar snarls in return, “The code that has been so kind to abandon me ever since my accident as an apprentice? But I guess you don’t care about that, you’ve hated me since far before that, haven’t you?”

Brightstar’s fur is spiking, rage deep in her eyes, “Not once since I lost my leg have I been treated as a worthy member of this Clan, much less a cat deserving of respect. No, every one looks at me like I’m going to fail, like it was a mistake that I was allowed to make it this far, like it would have been better if I died that day!

“But I didn’t! I didn’t die and so if my survival is every one else’s problem then so be it. I don’t care how many cats my existence hurts—I am not going to apologize for the crime of being alive!” Brightstar’s chest heaves and this all is a horrible show of emotions but he doesn’t even try to compose himself as he continues. 

“There’s not a doubt in my mind that you did actually go to the Moonhole. And that you did actually speak to Laurelstar and Stormstar. And that they did actually agree that you should have been made leader instead of me. But you know what, Palewince? I don’t care what they have to say? They’re dead and gone!

“And I might be their mistake, but I am their living mistake. A mistake that will live and die and continue on.”

Brightstar turns away from her, smacking Palewince in the face with her tail. 

“Oh, and also I’m never going to make you deputy. First off because Laurelstar and Stormstar can swallow rocks and toss themselves in a river, secondly because there’s no doubt in my mind that you would try and take my life to become leader. Didn’t you just reveal to the entire Clan that not only was I an unfit leader, the other two are so incompetent that whoever the third deputy would be would confirm that they become leader.”

Brightstar smirks at her, “And well, it’s not like I don’t trust you not to kill me or anything like that. Or am I wrong to?

“Don’t bother to answer.” Brightstar says before he stumbles his way back to camp. His camp. The camp of his Clan.

Palewince lowers her eyes and doesn’t see red. Instead she simply turns away to hunt. If she wasn’t going to be able to succeed Brightstar the normal way, well, then she would just have to build up favor within the Clan. 

-

“What in StarClan’s name are you three doing?” Palewince snaps at her Clanmates who she’s been following since sunset. Streambreak and Ripplepaw apparently believed that they were just fine to stroll out of camp with Hollymask, one of the loudest cats in the Clan. It was truly a disgrace that more cats didn’t notice their loud escape. 

The three of them jump. Hollymask yowls. Palewince cuffs her over the head for daring to be so loud. She lost them for a short while but picked up their trail going into MarshClan territory. What in StarClan compelled them to not only be in MarshClan territory but also scream? 

Palewince should have these three severely punished once she dragged them back to camp. In fact, she should have the ringleader exiled for such a dangerous exercise. While not being a deputy, she had nearly as much power as one. Just because Brightstar never let her sit beneath her at Gatherings didn’t mean that she didn’t hold enough power to.

“Well?” Palewince snaps, looking between the three young cats. 

“We don’t have to explain ourselves to you! You aren’t a deputy!” Ripplepaw pipes up to say. 

Palewince lashes him across the face, claws out. Ripplepaw recoils, releasing a quiet yowl of pain as blood flows down his face, getting stuck in his fur. She was careful to avoid soft spots. He would be fine. She may be getting on in years but that didn’t mean that she was incapable. 

“We’re going home.” She snaps and quickly leads them all home. Ripplepaw, who was currently training under Brightstar, is made an apprentice for three more moons and Hollymask was put on apprentice duty for as long as possible. Streambreak, the one who had put the idea in their heads that they should go to BroadleafClan in the middle of the night. Probably whatever thing that rouge and Vaststar were getting up to but it wasn’t in Palewince to care. 

All she had to do was keep on working hard, just as she had her entire life. 

She slumps to the ground in a pool of warm blood, BroadleafClan scent filling her nostrils. With every breath she takes, more of her blood colors the ground. She cannot deny this reality. 

Palewince tries to look at the cat who attacked her. Hollymask looks horrified. Then her vision is taken from her in a flash of red that makes her yowl out with pain. 

What…wasn’t I supposed to become leader? I have a great destiny! A destiny for things greater than this! I can’t—I can’t die here!

And then—claws to her chest.

#warrior cats #allseeing eyes close #warriors oc #warrior cats oc #kitty talking #palewince #brightstar #stormstar #laurelstar

[felidthing]

my planz for dovetiger kits designs is that all of them have dovewing's build and tigerhearts ear shape and markings. shadowsight defies genetics by being some kind of smoke tabby so his color isnt from either of them but he's a tabby like tigerheart. his copper eyes are also closer to tigerheart than dovewing i guess. pouncestep is gray and solid like dovewing, but her mane is dakrer than her body rather than dovewing's white mane. she has the same eyes as tigerheart. lightleap is a brown tabby like tigerheart, but she has heterochromia like dovewing :] an amber eye and a blue eye. she also has a lot of white like dovewing.

these sentences make very little sense without seeing my dove and tiger designs. here u go

all the kids have specific mane shapes as well. shadowsight's is pretty round and idk, basic looking. pouncestep's is very fluffy and outward-pointing like dovewing's. lightleap's is made like entirely out of round shapes. ive actually doodled her before (on tha right lol)

drew her more recently in my sketchbook with a more pronounced mane rather than just a large fluffy chest. i'll figure it out eventually

#posts

[jayfrost-designs]

Okay, first things first - thank you to whoever it was who gave me a month of CORE!  It just said that someone gave me it, not who, so I'm not sure who it was, but whoever you are, thank you very much, I'm very surprised and grateful!

Now, onto hailing in the new year by uploading a few things I had sitting around completed. I haven't drawn Rudolph yet, I just haven't been super motivated to do so, but I'll try to do so at some point in January. Instead, I had the urge to design a while back, and somewhat randomly, though moreso inspired by her recent appearance in TPONS, I decided on designing Sparrowfeather. So here she is. ^^

You can view the reverse side of her design here.

For her physical description, Sparrowfeather is described as a small she-cat with a muzzle that looks as though it has been savaged by a dog. I used this image as a reference, to get that small, stocky, fluffy look for her. I had a lot of fun playing with her battered muzzle. It'd be interesting to know her story - did she really get those wounds from a dog? What did she do to earn her place in the Dark Forest? For her pattern, Sparrowfeather is described as a mottled brown tabby. I decided to interpret that as a broken mackeral tabby. I tried to make her markings and colors to look kinda like the markings you'd see on a tree sparrow's wings, as a nod to her name. Since she has no canon eye color, I gave her yellow eyes. Overall, I'm really happy with how she turned out.  

#Warriors #Warrior Cats #Erin Hunter #Sparrowfeather #Dark Forest #The Place of No Stars #Omen of the Stars #The Broken Code