Post by Έρωτα και της Ομορφιάς on Jan 12, 2014 22:29:37 GMT
THUNDERCLAN
To many this is the noblest Clans, the Clan of heroes. But I take no sides; all Clans have their strengths and weaknesses, which differ according to whose story you listen to.
Thunder-Clan cats are impressive hunters; I’d even say I envied them their skills, but a life enclosed in rattling trees and wind-whispering leaves would not suit me. They have the skills to make themselves silent and invisible so they can hunt the little creatures that scuttle through fern and fallen leaf. You’ve heard of the hunter’s crouch, when they gather their strength into their hindquarters before making the final leap? That is a Thunder-Clan trick’ you’ll not find it used by any other Clan.
Thunder-Clan has always been the fiercest guardian of the wwarrior code; if another Clan breaks it, you’d think every Thunder-Clan warrior bleeds from the wound. No cat could accused them of being afraid to fight, as long as they believe the fight is truly justified-unlike others I could name, who seem to the love the rip of fur beneath their clans and need no other excuse for battle. Hush, Blossom-Kit. Did I mentions Shadow-Clan’s name?
Thunder-Clan have had their fair share of the border trouble. Back in the forest, they quarreled with River-Clan over Sunning-Rocks almost every season. When the Clans first came to the forest, this little hill of stones was an island that belonged to River-Clan because they were the only cats that can reach it, by swimming. But when the river changed course the rocks were joined by dry land to Thunder-Clan’s territory, and both Clans have laid claim to them ever since.
By the lake, Thunder-Clan has faced a constant thread for Shadow-Clan on their shared border. For now Fire-Star has granted Black-Star’s Clan hunting rights on the exposed stretch of grass where Two-legs come in greenleaf; a wise move, some cats say, because there is little prey to be found there. And another reason for Thunder-Clan to proclaim how fair and generous they are. I wonder how long Shadow-Clan will be satisfied with this addition to their territory?
Important ThunderClan Cats
Blue-Star
Was Fire-Star a replacement for the kits Blue-Star never saw grow up? An interesting questions, little one. She was an excellent mentor to the kitty-pet, and trained him to be a wise and confident warrior. She saw him as the savior of her Clan from the moment the sun struck his flame-colored pelt. Spotted-Leaf had told her that only fire could save the Clan, so Rusty mush have seemed like a gift from Star-Clan.
It’s too easy to say Blue-Star went mad during the last moons of her life; you have only to think about what she gave up- including you, Moss-Kit- to understand how far she thought she had failed. Don’t forget that she gave up her ninth life to save her Clan from the dogs, throwing herself into the gorge to lead them to their deaths. Stone-Fur and Misty-Foot found her on River-Clan’s shore, so her final moments were spent making peace with her surviving children before she came to join Star-Clan.
Fire-Star
I know the Thunder-Clan leader was born a kitty-pet, but is makes no difference to me where a kit gulps his first breath, Mind you, Fire-Star has given his Clan-mates precious little chance to forget his kitty-pet roots. He is the champion of all cats who are not Clan-born. No cat could argue that Cloud-Tail is not worthy warrior, or the Daisy does not serve the Clan well in the nursery. But you can see how other Clans are suspicious of Fire-Star’s willingness to welcome loners and kitty-pets into the warriors’ den.
What was your mother thinking of, Moss-Kit, when she brought this too-brave, too-curious kit into the forest? Was Blue-Star blinded by the color of his pelt, knowing he fulfilled the prophecy that fire would save her Clan? Star-Clan wanted him as much as Blue-Star did. Poor Fire-Star, he scarcely seems able to close his eyes without some farsighted dream filling his mind. But he has handled this burden well, lived up to all of Star-Clan’s expectations. Maybe it too more than a Clan-born cat to discover Tiger-Star’s treachery, or to bring Wind-Clan home after they were driven out by Shadow-Clan. See, Adder-Kit, you should be grateful to Fire-Star for helping your Clan-mates. Blossom-Kit, They did not deserve to be chased out of their home!
Even Sand-Storm came to forgive Fire-Star his kitty-pet roots- and she is a cat whose opinion is worth a moon of prey. I wish Fire-Star nothing but peace, and a long life. Ha, empty words from me, who knows how every one of Fire-Star’s nine lives will end.
Gray-Stripe And Millie
Does Gray-Stripe have any enemies, I wonder? Don’t bristle little warrior; not even Shadow-Clan is the foe of every living cat. He was the first to make friends with Fire-Star, when he was no more than a lost and curious kitty-pet. He and Fire-Star share the same foolish generosity: could you imagine any other pair of cats catching food for River-Clan when the river was poisoned, or traveling far from the forest to rescue Wind-Clan?
But Gray-Stripe’s life isn’t just a tale of friendship and heroics. Like Blue-Star, he fell in love with a River-Clan cat, Silver-Stream, and he fathered her kits. It tore him apart to leave his Clan- and his best friend- when he took his motherless kits to their mother’s Clan, but he believed it was the only place where they’d be truly welcomed. I think he was right; for all Thunder-Clan’s noble gestures, they are not always kind to half-Clan cats. Grey-Stripe came back when he realized that his loyalties were not to his kits’ Clan, but to his own.
Now Gray-Stripe has a new mate, Millie, and kitty-pet that he met when he was captured by Two-legs. I don’t think Thunder-Clan realizes how much they owe Millie for the safe return of their leader’s best friend and deputy. It was her determination that got them out of Two-leg place, her encouragement that helped Gray-Stripe follow the Clans all the way from the forest to the lake. I hope he never forgets how much she has given up for him, and how far she has traveled from her home, in more ways than one.
Sand-Storm
Fire-Star’s loyal mate, a good mother to squirrel-flight and Leaf-pool, she’s the cat that won Fire-Star’s heart after Spotted-leaf’s death… Is this how Sand-Storm will be remembered? She deserves more than that, in my opinion. If it weren’t for her, Fire-Star might not have led his Clan-mates into battle against Blood-Clan at all. I see your ears prick up, little kits. In spite of Star-Clan’s prophecies and Fire-Star’s determinations to save the forest from Scourge, Sand-Storm was the one who made Fire-Star believe he was doing the right thing from fighting the cats from two-leg place. He trusted her because she loved him above all and would never sacrifice his life for the good of the Clan. She knows Fire-Star better than he realized- better than even Spotted-leaf, for all the medicine cat’s murmuring in Fire-Star’s sleeping ears.
Sand-Storm isn’t just Fire-Star’s shadow, either. Her courage matched his on the journey to rebuild Sky-Clan. She took on the role of medicine cat to help the scattered Clan-mates, and she matched Fire-Star blow for blow in the battle against the rats, even thought she had only a single life to lose.
I hold Sand-Storm in higher esteem than I do almost any other Clan cat. She has traveled far from the days when she and Dust-paw tormented Rusty the kitty-pet. I hope Fire-Star appreciates her journey as much as she deserves.
Yellow-Fang
You know Yellow-fang, Don’t you? She walks among the stars now. If she’s grumpy then it’s your fault for disturbing her! She deserves more respect than you realize. And remember that she was once your Clan-mate too, Blossom-kit.
Yellow-fang’s troubled life took her from Shadow-Clan, where she was born and trained as a medicine cat, to Thunder-Clan, where she died in a fire, helping her adopted Clan-mates escape. She was cranky, stubborn, impatient- and the most loyal cat you could ever meet. her whole life was a quiet for loyalty- first to Shadow-Clan, to her role as their medicine cat, to the son that she bore in secret. His father was Ragged-Star, leader of Shadow-Clan. Foolish Yellow-Fang! She knew medicine cats aren’t suppose to have mates, and especially not kits. When her kit Broken-star became Shadow-Clan’s leader and made the forest run with the blood of kits too young to fight, Yellow-Fang’s loyalty to what she knew to be right sent her fleeing across the border to Thunder-Clan.
She blamed herself for Broken-star’s brutality, you know. Why else would she persuade Blue-star to let him live in the Thunder-Clan camp? I can’t imagine what agony Yellow-fang felt when she discovered he had plotted against the clan that had given him food and shelter. Agony enough to kill her ungrateful son, I know that much. Brave, loyal, Yellow-fang, who fought enough battles for nine lifetimes.
Cinder-Pelt
The cat who should have been made a warrior, and the cat who was given a second chase. No, Star-Clan did not plan for Cinder-pelt to be stuck on the Thunder-path instead of Blue-star. You warrior ancestors were as horrified as any of the forest cats when Cinder-pelt ended up in Tiger-star’s trap and her warrior path snatched from her.
She was a good medicine cat; there’s no doubt of that. She should have been, given Yellow-fang as her mentor. But star-clan did not whisper in her ear as clearly as they have done to other medicine cats. Remember the fire-and-tiger prophecy, the burning blades of grass that she interpreted as a warning that Bramble-claw and Squirrel-flight would unite to destroy Thunder-Clan? She was wrong. Their quest to the sun-drowned-place saved the Clan by finding them a new home.
But Star-Clan did not blame Cinder-pelt for that. She should never have been a medicine-cat; they knew that right from the start. They gave her one more test before deciding to hive her a second chance: they told her when she would die, and then let her live with the knowledge even thought her apprentice, Leaf-pool, was on the brink of leaving the clan to be with Crow-feather. Cinder-pelt lived in the shadow of her own death with such courage, such dignity, resisting the temptation to beg Leaf-pool, to stay, that she proved herself worthy of a second life, plunging back into the forest as one of Sorrel-tail’s mewling kits.
I hope your ancestors watch over her more closely this time.
Leaf-Pool
This is the cat who was never destined to be anything but a medicine-cat. I see your eyes shine, little warrior; is this the path you would have wished to follow? From the moment Leaf-pool and Squirrel-flight were born, each always knew where the other was, and what they were feeling. Star-Clan fostered this link because they knew any Clan cat had been before- and they needed a cat back home to be aware of what she was going through. For a while it seemed that, young as she was, Leaf-pool knew what lay around every corner and over every horizon. She knew the Clans had found their new homes when they reached the lake; she knew that Bramble-claw would make a strong and loyal deputy for Thunder-Clan. She ever knew that blood would spill blood before the Clans were truly settled around the lake- and she watched with her own eyes as Bramble-claw killed his half brother, Hawk-frost, to save Fire-Star.
But the one thing Leaf-pool did not foresee was falling in love- and with a Wind-Clan warrior, at that. Yes, Adder-kit, I’m sure Wind-Clan warriors are the best warriors of all, but Leaf-pool was a medicine cat! Everything about their relationship was wrong, according to your warrior code. How could their love lead to anything but misery and ill fortune? Even now it echoes among the Clans, coloring their future in ways not even Leaf-pool can see.
Squirrel-Flight
If Leaf-pool is like water, calm, deep running, reflecting the stars, then Squirrel-flight is fire. She has energy to scorch every tree in the forest, and a tongue that could leave scares in beech bark. I would trust Squirrel-flight with my life simply because she is incapable of doing anything but what she believe to be right. No, Blossom-kit, this is not same as always telling the truth. Even Squirrel-flight has her secrets.
It was bold of Star-Clan to let Bramble-claw take her on the quest to the sun-drowned-place- thought I recall Squirrel-flight gave him little choice and would have followed him regardless. But she proved herself a valuable companion many times over, and returned a better cat for it. If she had stayed in the forest I think she would always have been Leaf-pool’s little sister, they feisty apprentice with a habit of leaping paws-first into trouble. The quest proved she had the courage of her father, Fire-Star, and the quiet determination of her mother, Sand-Storm, which isn’t always appreciated in Thunder-Clan.
Storm-Fur loved her first, you know. He saw something behind the mischief and the fire, when Bramble-claw saw only a quarrelsome nuisance. And Ash-fur, thought he would have been loyal to the end, failed to appreciate the strength beneath her impulsive ways. Squirrel-flight needed someone to match her fire, not contain it, and that cat was always going to be Bramble-claw.
Squirrel-flight and Bramble-clan have gone thought so much together. Squirrel-flight is a good mother to Jay-paw, Holly-paw, and Lion-paw. I hope Squirrel-flight is well rewarded for her devotion.
Bramble-Claw
The son of Tiger-Star was always going to walk a path of light and shadow. He must feel sometimes as if his whole life has been spent trying to prove his loyalty to Thunder-Clan. He was the first cat chosen to go to the sun-drowned-place, and if Blue-star didn’t hesitate to trust him, maybe his Clan-mates should follow her lead. I don’t think even Fire-Star could have led the other cats on the quest to find Midnight; his curiosity, his generous spirit, would have distracted him, kept him helping those he met along the way. But Bramble-claw didn’t stop until he reached the cliffs, until he heard what Midnight had to tell him. Then he came back to the forest and repeated the journey, this time with his Clan and the other three Clans, seeking a new and safer home. What further proof do you need that this is a noble cat, a brave and loyal cat who would stop at nothing to help his Clan-mates?
And yet, and yet… He let his father, Tiger-Star, walk in his dreams, mentor him in the pursuit of power, he even schemed with Hawk-frost, which showed extraordinary lack of foresight for an experience warrior. Is his heart really as pure as he wants us to believe? Can Tiger-Star’s son every truly step out of the shadows? You’re looking at me round-eyed, all three of you, as if I know the answer.
I don, but now is not the time to share. Some things are best left for destiny to unfurl.
Ash-Fur
You’ve heard his name before, haven’t you? Have the Star-Clan elders fretted over his destiny, about where his path will lead now that he has lost Squirrel-flight’s affection?
It’s a shame Ash-fur is most famous for quarreling with Bramble-claw over Squirrel-flight. He really loved Squirrel-flight, you know, even if he wasn’t the best match for her. He tired too hard to protect her, to stop her from jumping in with all four paws when sometimes that’s the only way Squirrel-flight learns anything. But Ash-fur is a strong, brave warrior, once I’d want on my side in battle.
Any cat in Thunder-Clan would say he mentored Lion-paw well, shaped him into one of the best fighting cats this Clan has ever known. Some might accused him of being confrontational, too quick to argue when he doesn’t agree with a decision. But look at Dust-pelt: he was never Fire-Star’s best friend, yet he is a courageous, trustworthy warrior who was earned his leader’s respect. Even thought Ash-fur and Bramble-claw were once rivals for Squirrel-flight’s affections, there’s no reason Ash-fur can’t be a loyal Thunder-Clan warrior. Be careful. If you listen too much to Squirrel-flight and Bramble-claw, it’s easy to dismiss Ash-fur as a troublemaker out for revenge. But the other cats should listen to what he has to say. He has a story of his own.
Bright-Heart And Cloud-Tail
Perhaps I have no always looked like this- perhaps once I had fur as thick and soft as yours, and my eyes were clear and could see more than shadows and moonlight. But if that was so it was a long time ago, father back than any of your ancestors can remember.
But Bright-heart can remember what she looked like before Tiger-star’s half-trained pack of dogs attacked her. It breaks her heart every time she sees her reflections- why do you think she never goes down to the lake? She is brave to her Clan-mates, hardly flinches when a newcomer or kit shrieks at that sigh of her scars. But her first warrior name, Lost-fast, echoes in her ears whenever she is alone. If only she could see inside herself, to the beauty that lies in courage and loyalty, and devotion.
Cloud-tail alone has never flinched. But then, he knows what is means to be different, not just because of his fluffy white pelt. He is even more conspicuous than you Blossom-kit! Fire-Star’s kitty-pet sister, princess, gave her firstborn kit to be raise as a Thunder-Clan warrior, as if becoming a forest cat were as easy as putting on Two-leg collar. Cloud-tail struggled from the start- he even went back to the kitty-pet life until Star-Clan, and Fire-Star, gave him a second chance by rescuing him. Even now he doesn’t believe in Star-Clan. But he does believe in loyalty and protecting his Clan, and the warrior code requires nothing more.
JayPaw, LionPaw, And HollyPaw
There will be three, kin of your kin, who will hold the power of the starts in their paws. Fire-Star waited a long time for these kits to be born- waited in dead, not hope, because what would happened when kits were given a power even greater than Star-Clan’s? Not they have come, and Fire-star can do nothing but watch and wait to see where their paths lead- and whether his Clan will survivor their destinies.
Lion-Blaze is the warrior, a hunter and fighter as brave as Tiger-Star. But then, he should be, since Fire-star’s old enemy has walked beside him in the forest, training him and encouraging him to be ever more fearless. Would Lion-paw have been so strong and skillful without this cat of shadows?
Holly-Leaf is the thinker, the politician, sensitive and cunning and aware of all the different consequences that might come from a single actions. For her, the warrior code is the root and reward of every choice a Clan cat has to make, and she would tread the hardest paths to defend it. Wit can be sharper than claws; remember that, little ones.
Jay-Feather is the blind cat who sees in his dreams- and in the dreams of others, too. What else could he be but a medicine cat, which his memory for herbs and his instinct for Star-Clan’s portents? But dreams are private, and I would hate to have my sleep disturbed by a trespasser. Three young cats, with starlight in their eyes and the whisper of an ancient wind in their fur. Just remember this: power is neither good nor bad, but it’s user makes it so.
SHADOWCLAN
Ah, those evil cats! Their hearts have been chilled by the wind that blows from the mountains, and every kit is schooled to share his Clan-mates’ hunger for battle, for more territory, for the warmth of blood running beneath their paws.
All right, put your claws away. I’m only repeating the tales told in nurseries of the other Clans. Shadow-Clan warriors are proud and fight well. Their territory is the least rich in prey- no rivers running with fish, burrows full of rabbits, or leafy trees hiding songbirds and squirrels. They share their territory with lizards and frogs, and the rats that feed on two-leg waste in carrion-place. Why wouldn’t they seize every chance to add something else to their fresh-kill pile?
They are the night hunters, because ferns and brambles don’t grow on their marshy grounds. If there are no leaves and thorns to hide among, then darkness is their only cover for stalking prey. True, they use this skill to take their enemies by surprise as well, but does Thunder-Clan keep it’s hunting moves only for catching prey? I think not.
No cat can deny that Shadow-Clan has been the cause of bloodshed more than any of the other Clans, in the recent moons, at least. But the leader of the Clan is the cat who takes them into battle; you can’t blame the warriors and apprentices for being loyal and running behind. They are trained to be fierce, proud, and independent, ready to fight to defend their borders and their meager supply of food. If other Clans fear them, perhaps it is because Shadow-Clan are an enemy no cat would wish to have.
Sometimes it even seems that Star-Clan share the forest Clans’ fears: they let Ragged-star die at the claws of his own son, Broken-tail, and refused to grant Night-star his nine lives because Broken-star was still alive, albeit a blind prisoner in the Thunder-Clan camp. Maybe old scores are not forgotten, even by our warrior ancestors, and Shadow-Clan will have to battle for a long time yet against the better-favored Clans.
Important ShadowClan Cats
Tiger-Star
It would be interesting to know whether Tiger-star counts himself a Shadow-Clan or Thunder-Clan cat; he lived far longer in the clan where he was born; yet I’ve not known him to walk in the dreams of any Shadow-Clan cat, apart from his daughter, Tawny-pelt, who wouldn’t listen. But I won’t be the cat to ask him; the shadowy forest where he walks now is not more me; nor should you try to find it, curious kits! This is far enough for you to wander.
I can hear your claws scratch the stole floor at the mention of Tiger-star’s name. Is his bloodstained history used to scare mischievous kits even in Star-Clan? From the moment he saw an opportunity to kill Red-tail, his own deputy, Tiger-star’s path swelled with the ranks of Star-Clan more than any other single warrior has done. Shall we list the memorable dead? Red-tail, Running-wind, Brindle-face, Swift-paw, and Blue-star, and Stone-fur; and we can blame him for all the deaths in the battle with Blood-Clan for it was he who brought Scourge to the forest. Foolish, proud Tiger-star, killed by his own ambition. He was the greatest warrior the forest has ever known, and the bravest in battle.
Now he walks a forest of shadows with his half-Clan son, Hawk-frost, for company. I wonder if Tiger0star remember, when he looks at the cat beside him, his purge of half-Clan blood as leader of Tiger-Clan. They still whisper in the ears of kits who show the same promise they once did- fierce fighters with ambition and pride.
Lion-paw should be careful. These cats are not his allies.
Broken-Star
It’s all right, you’re safe here. Broken-Star would not dare venture into these tunnels- for more reasons than a fear of the dark. For once the nursery queens are not exaggerating when they frighten kits with his stories. Even his birth was forbidden by the warrior code; Star-Clan’s hearts must have sunk when Yellow-fang, the Shadow-Clan medicine cat, fell in love with the Clan leader, Ragged-star. Yellow-fang made her second mistake in giving to her kit to Lizard-stripe, a queen who made sure that the kit with the crooked tail knew he was unwelcome in her den. Broken-star saw only one way of making his Clan-mates respect him. He killed ragged-star not knowing he was sending his own father to Star-Clan, and set out to prove that he was the strongest, most fearless warrior in the history of Clans.
Your warrior ancestors could only watch helplessly as Broken-star led his Clan against Wind-Clan, driving them out their home; next they turned on Thunder-Clan, jealous of their prey-rich trees, and Spotted-leaf died in their raids. Even after he was blinded and taken prisoner by Thunder-Clan, spared after Yellow-fang pleaded for mercy, Broken-star plotted with Dark-stripe and Tiger-star to attach the Clan that had given him shelter. It is fitting that he did not die a warrior’s death, struck down in battle but was forced to eat death berries by his own mother.
Black-Star
Shadow-Clan will have to go through many, many leaders to shake off the echoes of Broken-star’s and Tiger-star’s deadly reigns: Night-Star, Broken-Star, and now Black-Star. Black-Star was Night-Star’s deputy and then Tiger-Star’s, and after Night-Star’s timid, tortured leadership, Tiger-Star must have seemed like the cat who would lead Shadow-Clan back to the days when they were feared and respected throughout the forest. No cat can envy Black-star for having to follow in his paw steps, swimming with blood and with the Clan in tatters. He has done well to rally his Clan-mates, to lead them on the Great Journey and build them a new home by the lake.
Black-star never harks back to the days when Shadow-Clan won every battle, when it looked as if they really would take of the whole forest and make the other Clans serve them. He has made his Clan-mates proud once more, confident that they deserver to be one of the four Clans around the lake, brave in battle and respectful of that other Clans at Gatherings. Moss-kit, you can let your fur lay flat. If Black-star had threatened the Thunder-Clan border, perhaps it is because, yet again, Shadow-Clan had been given the territory least rich in prey.
Black-star has a long way to go before the other Clans forget Shadow-Clans battle-hungry past. But he should not be punished for having pride in his Clan.
Tawny-Pelt
Thunder-Clan cats would find it much easier to hate and fear Shadow-Clan is one of their trusted Clan-mates have chosen to make her home with them! Perhaps they should respect her judgment more; Tawny-pelt was no supporter of Tiger-star, but she was punished for his crimes when she lived in Thunder-Clan by her own Clan-mates’ lack of trust. Bramble-claw was willing to spend his whole life proving himself worthy to be part of Thunder-Clan; Tawny-pelt preferred to find a place to live where she would be judged by her own terms.
Star-Clan chose Tawny-pelt to represent Shadow-Clan on the journey to find Midnight, a choice that was perhaps meant to challenge Thunder-Clan, to show them that Tawny-pelt had found her true home. The quest would have been less successfully without her willingness to look beyond Clan boundaries. She recognized Crow-feather’s strengths before her companions did, and Feather-tail would have fought much harder not to fall in love with the Wind-Clan warrior if Tawny-pelt hadn’t encourage her.
Tawny-pelt believes she can be a loyal Shadow-Clan cat without any darkness of heart or purpose. When Tiger-star summoned her to his shadowy forest in her dreams, she refused to listen to him. She knew he couldn’t help her achieve what she wants most: loyalty and security and peace. She will go into battle for Shadow-Clan, yet she never forgets her kinship in Thunder-Clan, either. She has proved that being loyal does not have to mean treating others as your enemy. You should be proud of Tawny-pelt, she and her kits would do much to salvage Shadow-Clan’s reputation.
Boulder
The Shadow-Clan cat who was raised in Blood-Clan; the cat who led Tiger-star to Scourge and sealed the deadly pact that would bathe the forest in blood. The foolish, hapless warrior whose desire to impress Tiger-star made him forget the nature of his birth Clan, made him think Scourge would really be swayed by the promise of a few trees to hunt among. He’s not an evil cat, and never tried to serve any dark ambitions of his own. He just had too much fait in the warrior code. Boulder lived as wretched as life in blood-Clan as any other young cat. When he met a forest cat who told him about the the Clans lived, with warriors and apprentices and well-defended borders, Boulder left Blood-Clan and went to live among pine trees and learned how to chase frogs. His memories of living in Two-leg place faded to nightmares, then dreams, then half-remembered images of red stone and stinking alleys and furtive conversations. What he did remember was the possible advantage of bringing fierce, bloodthirsty group of cats to fight on his Clan’s behalf. Better to spill the blood of others cats than their own, especially cats who had made his early life a misery.
He paid a high price for his misjudgment.
Little-Cloud And Running-Nose
Running-nose tried to hard to save your life, Blossom-kit. You were the third kit he’d seen that day with fur ripped away your pelt stained scarlet like a death-berry. He’d been trained as a medicine cat by Yellow-fang, but all his knowledge of herbs could not stop your tiny life from melting away like a snowflake on a rock.
Running-nose must have regretted the day he asked to become Yellow-fang’s apprentice. As Broken-star’s medicine cat, he was forced to interpret omens that promised nothing but success in battle for his bloodthirsty leader, and then tried to stop the lifeblood of the Clan from sinking into the ground as apprentices were taken from the nursery. Even after Broken-star was captured by Thunder-Clan, Running-nose had more secrets to keep: this time, the fact that Star-Clan would not grant Night-star his nine lives. His conscience must have weight heavier than stone.
Little-cloud was Running-nose’s apprentice. He was inspired to follow this path when the Thunder-Clan medicine cat, Cinder-pelt. She rescued him during Shadow-Clan’s Great Sickness, when disease from the rats at Carrion-place sliced through the warriors sharper than a badger’s claw. Cinder-pelt was punished for raiding Thunder-Clan’s store of herbs to cure two Shadow-Clan apprentices, but Thunder-Clan has been rewarded by the presence of a fair and peaceful medicine cat in their rival Clan, who will never forget the debt he owes.
WINDCLAN
Are you sitting a little straighter, You should be proud of your birth Clan, whatever other cats might say about Broken-star driving you from your home, or your Clan-mates’ willingness to make alliances to protect their borders. There is a great difference between being weak- which your Clan was not- and being vulnerable, which is the price paid for living on the moor. Your Clan has spent many moons learning how to survive in the open, where speed and a sense of danger count for more than stealth and stalking skills. And they are nearer to Star-Clan up on their hills beneath the open sky; perhaps that explains why their warrior ancestors have spared them many times over.
It’s not always easy to befriend a Wind-Clan cat- they have become like the rabbits they chase; Suspicious and quickly startled, fiercely protective of their Clan-mates. But they know they are in less danger from allies than enemies, which is why they have reputation for being a peaceful Clan, the least likely to invade another Clan’s territory for food or power. Since Fire-star came to the forest has watched them join with River-Clan, then Thunder-Clan, and ever fall under the thrall of Shadow-Clan when that seemed the only way to say, this farsightedness is a strength, and it is a mistake to think Wind-Clan cats are ever truly loyal to any but their own Clan.
They suffered most when the two-legs made the thunder-path in the forest wider. They watched huge yellow monsters turn their territory to rabbit less mud, then became prey themselves as the two-legs tried first to poison them, then rounded them up and imprisoned them. They showed great courage in not fleeing the forest long before the other Clans made up their minds to leave. For as long as there are cats living by the lake, Wind-Clan will be among them, swift pawed and watchful, clinging to the warrior code like moss to a rock.
Important WindClan Cats
Tall-Star
He spent nine long lives fighting for his Clan, defending the borders, forging alliances that would grant his Clan-mates one more moon of peace, and battling the creatures within his territory that wanted to harm kits. Some cats thought he was too quick to make friends with other Clans, too willing to let another leader take responsibility for the safety of his Clan-mates. But what he was suppose to when Fire-star and Gray-stripe risked their lives to bring his Clan home from the Thunder-path? Gratitude and respect for two brave young warriors is not the same as rolling over and showing soft parts of your underbelly.
Tall-star fought as fiercely as a lion when he needed to, but he preferred not to watch his Clan-mates bleed scarlet onto the grass. When Blue-star tried to lead her Clan into battle against him, believing his cats had stolen prey from Thunder-Clan territory, Tall-star trusted Fire-star’s warning that Blue-star was mistaken, and refused to fight.
He gave up his ninth life at the end of the Great Journey, knowing he had led his Clan safely to their new home. And with his last breath, all his wisdom, all his farsighted, deserted him. Suspicious of his deputy Mud-clan’s ambition, he make One-whisker his deputy instead, thus cheating Mud-claw of becoming leader. Foolish Tall-star. He should have known that Mud-claw would harbor a drudge in his heart like poisonous thorn. He mush have watched in dismay as his final decision nearly destroyed the whole Clan he had struggled for so long to protect.
One-Star
This cat could tell you a tale or two about the loneliness of power. He was a good friend to Fire-star from the moment they met on a journey back from the Thunder-path; the two young warriors recognized in each other a sense of fairness and ambition to serve their Clan. It was partly thanks to One-whisker that Tall-star agreed not to fight Blue-star over her accusations of theft; and Wind-Clan cats were treated generously more than once when they crossed the border. Fire-star believed he could depend on their friendship forever, and was only too pleased with Tall-star changed his deputy at the end of his life.
But One-star could not be the leader of his Clan as well as Fire-star’s loyal ally. Suddenly the friendship that had supported him from across the border seemed like burden, a debt of gratitude. One-star knew the other Clans called Fire-star’s kitty, ready to roll over and have his belly tickled when it suited the Thunder-Clan leader.
He needed respect from his own Clan-mates, too, many of whom had supported Mud-claw’s claim. The only way to do this was to make his Clan independent, confident they could face challenges without running to Thunder-Clan. There were no favors owed or expected, no tolerance of border crossing or friendly patrols. It was a hard lesson for Fire-star, but harder for One-star. He missed his Thunder-Clan friend, especially in the early days, when he struggles to convince himself he had any right to be Wind-Clan’s leader. At the time when he most needed an ally he had walk alone, and watch a long friendship ebb away.
Mud-Claw
This cat could tell you a tale or two about the loneliness of power. He was a good friend to Fire-star from the moment they met on a journey back from the Thunder-path; the two young warriors recognized in each other a sense of fairness and ambition to serve their Clan. It was partly thanks to One-whisker that Tall-star agreed not to fight Blue-star over her accusations of theft; and Wind-Clan cats were treated generously more than once when they crossed the border. Fire-star believed he could depend on their friendship forever, and was only too pleased with Tall-star changed his deputy at the end of his life.
But One-star could not be the leader of his Clan as well as Fire-star’s loyal ally. Suddenly the friendship that had supported him from across the border seemed like burden, a debt of gratitude. One-star knew the other Clans called Fire-star’s kitty, ready to roll over and have his belly tickled when it suited the Thunder-Clan leader.
He needed respect from his own Clan-mates, too, many of whom had supported Mud-claw’s claim. The only way to do this was to make his Clan independent, confident they could face challenges without running to Thunder-Clan. There were no favors owed or expected, no tolerance of border crossing or friendly patrols. It was a hard lesson for Fire-star, but harder for One-star. He missed his Thunder-Clan friend, especially in the early days, when he struggles to convince himself he had any right to be Wind-Clan’s leader. At the time when he most needed an ally he had walk alone, and watch a long friendship ebb away.
Crow-Feather
What made Star-Clan pick this inexperienced, reserved, defensive apprentice to travel to the sun-drowned-place on Wind-Clan’s behalf? He was the only cat in the prophecy who was not a full warrior, and the only one without an old friend on the journey, Moss-kit. You may well say he was a grumpy and unhelpful, but he agreed to go, didn’t he? Crow-feather never once tried to turn back, fought as bravely as the rest against hostile kitty-pets and hungry foxes, and faced Midnight side by side with his companions, knowing he had a right to hear her message too.
Feather-trail saved him, in the other cats’ eyes, because she saw past his shyness and his sharp tongue and found something to love. He loved her too, with a quiet fierceness that nearly split him in two when watched her die in the cave behind the waterfall. He chose his own warrior name to honor her memory, you know.
When Crow-feather fell in love again, this time with Leaf-pool, the Thunder-Clan medicine cat, I wondered if Star-Clan had forgotten about him completely. Or perhaps they were punishing him for some misdeed he hasn’t yet done? It was bound to end in disaster. It wasn’t only Leaf-pool’s loyalty to her Clan that brought them back to the lake; Crow-feather was the one who said they had to return to save Thunder-Clan from the badger attack. He loved Leaf-pool too much to force her to abandon her medicine cat duties. By letting her go, did he lose any hope of happiness for himself?
Night-Cloud And Breeze-Pelt
If Night-cloud were a gentle, loving cat like Leaf-pool, or feisty and warmhearted like Squirrel-flight, it would have been easier to feel sorry for her. After all, Crow-feather took her as his mate to prove that he was loyal to Wind-Clan in spite of trying to run off with the Thunder-Clan medicine cat. But she’s a difficult she-cat to like, with her short temper and her possessiveness over Crow-feather and her son, Breeze-paw.
Don’t hiss, Adder-kit. I speak only the trust as I see it, and what some might call the love of a she-cat for her kits I call jealousy and arrogance. Night-cloud should trust her son to prove his own worth, without leaping in to defend him first. And maybe she should remember that of all Crow-feather’s mates, she is the one Star-Clan have spared to live side by side with him.
Breeze-paw shares his mother’s arrogance, but perhaps we can forgive his readiness to draw blood in defense of his Clan. He has heard the whispers about his father, the doubts that Crow-feather is truly loyal to Wind-Clan, and the rumor that he has a weakness beyond the borders. Breeze-paw doesn’t know this weakness has a name, but he will not let his Clan-mates think the same about him. He is what One-star needs most: a fierce, brave warrior loyal to Wind-Clan and with complete faith they can win every battle. But Breeze-paw needs to learn that a battle is unfair from the start if there are secrets waiting in the shadows, and if the cats around him have left a legacy of mistakes and ill judgments that has not reached it’s end.
Heather-Paw
Heather-paw was here once, little kits. Just like you she sat below this ledge, imagining places and cats far away. But for her, it was only a game, and the cats were members od Dark-Clan, which she and Lion-paw conjured up when they played in the tunnels. To Lion-paw she seemed like the bravest, most devoted companion he would wish to meet this far under the ground; but what made heather-paw so determined for her to meet her Thunder-Clan friend in secret? Did she think the warrior code would not apply to her? She insisted they weren’t doing any harm, but Tiger-star and Hawk-frost saw the danger in Lion-paw teaching a Wind-Clan apprentice their best fighting moves. I don’t think Heather-paw was guilty of anything but selfness; she stayed loyal to her Clan, although luckily she never had to face her friend on the other side of battle.
RIVERCLAN
Are you drawn to the rushing black water? Can you guess how it would feel sliding over your fur? You are half River-Clan, remember, and those cats are born with a love of water not shared by any other Clan. This means that they alone can take prey from lakes and rivers, so they go sleek and well fed even in leaf-bare, when the other Clans go hungry. They’re not so willing to share prey, either; they were quick to accept Fire-star and Gray-stripe’s woodland fresh-kill when the fish in the river made them sick, but I can’t imagine the favor being returned. Although they left Thunder-Clan shelter from the fire on their side of their river, so perhaps I am doing them an injustice. I just find their pride too close to smugness; they say their territory is safe because the other clans fear and respect them, but surely it’s a matter of the other Clans not knowing what to do with one end of a fish? Rabbits, voles, and birds can be found on the fresh-kill piles of the other Clans, but they don’t hunt for prey in the lake even thought they all have territory that runs down to the shore.
The price River-Clan paid for living by the river in the forest was the invasion of Two-legs every green-leaf. They lived in little dens made of flapping green pelts that were planted in the field next to the water and they filled the river with bobbing boats that scared away the fish. Did you know that more River-Clan cats were stolen by two-legs than from any other Clan> For no more sinister reason that to be kept as kitty-pets; two-leg kits would see a River-Clan cat sunning itself on the shore and want that handsome, glossy-furred warrior to live in their own next. What’s that, little ones? You’ve never heard this before? I’m not surprised; River-Clan keep quiet about it, even now, because hardly any of the warriors came back.
Important RiverClan Cats
Crooked-Star
Crooked-star was leader of River-Clan when Fire-star came to the forest. When he was a kit River-Clan won back the rights to sunning-rocks, and the cats used to swim across the river and stretch out whenever the sky was clear, just to taunt their Thunder-Clan rivals. Crooked-star and his littermates played too roughly on the rocks one day and he fell and broke his jaw giving him his warrior name. From then on he had to fight more fiercely, catch more fish, and defend his Clan more loyally to earn the respect of his Clan-mates; a less then perfect cat is not welcome in River-Clan.
Crooked-star knew that a united Clan, even if it contained half-clan blood, would always be stronger than a Clan that quarreled within itself. He knew who Misty-foot and Stone-fur’s mother was from the moment Oak-heart came to him with a tale of finding two kits lost in the snow. It was obvious from the color of their fur and the scent that clung to them. Crooked-star also knew that raising Blue-star’s kits would provide two more strong warriors for his Clan, and give the Thunder-Clan leader a weakness when it came to launching an attack across the river. So he chose to be publicly ignorant about where the kits came from.
He was less welcoming when Gray-stripe crossed the river with Feather-tail and Storm-fur. Gray-stripe’s mate, Silver-stream, was Crooked-star’s daughter, and Crooked-star wanted to have his kin in his own Clan. But there was no place in River-Clan for a warrior whose heart lay on the other side of the river, and Crooked-star did nothing to stop his Clan-mates from making it clear they could never trust Silver-stream’s former mate. It was this cunning, this confidence and farsightedness in dealing with his own Clan, that made Crooked-star one of the strongest leaders the Clans have ever seen.
Leopard-Star
Leopard-star was Crooked-star’s deputy and became leader when Crooked-star lost his ninth life. She shared his pride and his ambition for their Clan, but she lacked his wisdom and tried too hard to defend herself against the other Clans. She couldn’t see Crooked-star’s attitude to half-Clan blood as anything but a weakness, which turned her against Fire-star and his Clan of kitty-pet warriors. When Tiger-star took over Shadow-clan and offered a way of making the forest pure Clan, with no petty fighting over boundaries because call cats would belong to one supreme Clan, Leopard-star formed an alliance that would nearly lead to the destruction of every cat.
She realized her mistake when Tiger-star combined their Clans into Tiger-Clan and made himself leader, then made half-clan cats fight to the death. Whatever Leopard-star had hoped for, this was not it. But she was trapped by her pride and couldn’t speak out against Tiger-star- not because she was scared for her own safety, but because she couldn’t face losing the respect of her Clan-mates by admitting she was wrong.
Leopard-star saved her Clan-mates by agreeing to join Lion-claw on the eve of the battle with Blood-Clan; thanks to Fire-star she ended up on the winning side. But she has never forgotten how close she came to destroying her Clan, and if she seems hostile and defensive when dealing with the other Clans, it’s not because she doesn’t trust them; it’s because she no longer trusts her own judgment, and fears for the safety of her Clan if she makes another mistake.
Gray-Pool, Misty-Foot, and Stone-Fur
they grew into strong, loyal warriors who served their father’s Clan well. Yes, you would have made a fine warrior too. It is River-Clan’s loss that they didn’t get a chance to raise you with them. Oak-heart gave the remaining kits to one of the oldest queens in River-Clan, Gray-pool. He knew she would recognize their scent, but he trued her to keep quiet. Misty-foot and Stone-fur never questions that Gray-pool was their mother; they have similar-colored fur, and she treated them the same as any of the Clan’s kits, so why should they? It takes two to make a lie: One to tell it, the other to believe it.
All three of you inherited your father’s strength and courage and your mother’s good sense and fighting skills. Leopard-star made Misty-foot her deputy, and they mentored Storm-fur and Feather-tail. But when Blue-star revealed the truth about her birth, they became the thing Leopard-star hated most: half-Clan cats. When Tiger-star took control on River-Clan, Misty-foot fled across the river to her mother’s Clan, but Stone-fur was captured and killed by Dark-striped and Black-foot on Tiger-star’s command. Misty-foot returned to her Clan after the battle with Blood-Clan. She’ll succeed Leopard-star one day, which means a half-Clan cat will become leader. But it would be a foolish Thunder-Clan cat who thought Misty-foot had any loyalty except to the Clan that raised her and her brother.
Silver-Stream
Silver-stream was Crooked-star’s only daughter, and the strength of his leadership earned her the respect of her Clan-mates before she had caught her first fish. She was as dismayed as any of them would have been when she fell in love with a Thunder-Clan cat. She saved Gray-striped from drowning, not because she had been struck by his good looks from across the river, but because River-Clan were not in the habit of letting dead cats pollute their source of prey. Silver-stream did not want to be in love with a Thunder-Clan cat; when they met in secret, it felt as if she were walking on thorns, and fish stuck in her throat when she returned to her Clan-mates at the fresh kill pile. But loyalty and love are two very different things: Love makes cats risk everything for the sake of a few stolen moments, ears pricked for the sound of an approaching patrol even when one cat is on his own territory, and should be among friends.
In the end, Silver-stream paid the highest price of all, bleeding out her life on sunning rocks as she gave birth to Gray-stripe’s kits. Silver-stream would always be a River-Clan cat, like her father, while Gray-striped was rooted in the forest as deeply as the oaks.
Feather-Tail
Born on the edge of Thunder-Clan but raised in River-Clan, Feather-tail and her brother, Storm-fur, were obvious targets when Tiger-Star brought on his obsession with pure Clan blood across the river. They were imprisoned in an old fox den with Feather-tail’s mentor, Stone-fur, and were forced to watch him die in a savagely unfair fight with Dark-striped and Black-foot. Fire-star, Gray-stripe, and Raven-paw rescued them and took them to Thunder-Clan, where they joined their Clan-mate, Misty-foot; like her, they chose to go back to River-Clan when the battle with Blood-Clan was over. Star-Clan chose Feather-tail to go on the quest to find Midnight. Storm-fur went with her; these two cats had been through too much to let themselves get separated.
Feather-tail was known as a gentle cat, but she had the courage of a full-grown warrior as well as loyalty to her Clan and a firsthand of knowledge of what it felt like to be persecuted. Perhaps this is why the Tribe of Endless Hunting made her the subject of their prophecy: that a silver cat would save the Tribe of Rushing Water from the mountain lion that preyed on them. The prophecy came true, but it cost Feather-tail her life, plunging from the roof of a cat with the shard of stone that killed Sharp-tooth. A short life, then, but one that deserves to be preserved in the Clans’ memory for many moons to come.
Storm-Fur
Storm-fur came too close to losing his sister to Tiger-star’s pureblood madness; there was no way he would let her go on the journey to the sun-drowned-place alone. She he ended up watching her die in a shadowy cave far from forest, as part of a prophecy belonging to some other cat’s warrior ancestors. You might think that would give him a reason to hate the Tribe cats forever, but instead he found a new home in the mountains, with the help of a Tribe prey-hunter called Brook. It seems too easy, doesn’t it? Swapping a sister for a mate, and adopting a completely different way of life with cats whose troubles had killed Feather-tail?
But nothing is ever that simple. Storm-fur was already suited to the mountain life because he had Thunder-Clan talent for stalking and leaping after prey. More than that, he could not forgive his Clan-mates for betraying him to Tiger-star, and although he would have fought in any battle for River-Clan, he was loyal to the warrior code more than to the cats who shared his den.
But he was born a Clan cat, far from the mountains, and his adopted Tribe mates couldn’t forget that. Only Brook was willing to trust him, but we’ve already seen what pitfalls love can bring. Forced out by the tribe, they followed the Clans to the lake, but River-Clan was even less accepting of non-Clan born cats, and only Thunder-Clan would take them in. It was only a matter of time before the mountains called them back.
Hawk-Frost
The son of Tiger-star and a lone she-cat called Sasha, Hawk-frost would never be looked upon favorably by Star-Clan. Sasha brought her kits to River-Clan because she was too weak to care for them herself, and although the life of a Clan cat didn’t suit her, she hoped it would give her children a chance of survival than if they were left in the wild. She came back for them when she learned the Clans were being forced out of the forest by two-legs, but by then Hawk-frost and his sister, Moth-wing, were warriors, loyal to the code they shared with their clan-mates.
Even before he knew who his father was, Hawk-frost wanted to take Leopard-star’s place. He trained harder than any other apprentice, practiced catching fish over and over, even thought the skill didn’t run in his blood as it did in his Clan-mates’, and was rewarded by being made deputy when Misty-foot was captured by two-legs. He was clever enough to know that being Leopard-star’s favorite did not mean he was respected by his Clan-mates. For that he needed something more… such as a sister who was the Clan’s medicine cat. So he tore the wing off a moth to convince Mud-fur that his littermate was the right choice for his apprentice.
Tiger-star must have jumped for joy when he saw that one of his sons shared his hunger. He began visiting Hawk-frost in his dreams, and encouraged him to support Mud-claw in the rebellion against One-star. It was Tiger-star’s idea that Hawk-frost should plot with a Thunder-Clan cat who was already an enemy of Bramble-claw’s to lure Fire-star into a trap. But Tiger-star underestimated Bramble-claw’s loyalty to his Clan leader; as Leaf-pool predicted, blood spilled blood, and the lake turned red when Bramble-claw killed his half brother to save Fire-star’s life.
Moth-Wing And Willow-Paw
You must know Moth-wing’s secret already, little kits. I should imagine she is a constant puzzle to Star-Clan, a medicine cat who doesn’t believe in them. Yet they have let her stay, because they can see that she has studied hard and has only the welfare of her Clan-mates at heart.
Unfortunately for her, knowing which herbs treat stomachache is not her only responsibility. Hawk-frost’s threat to reveal her secret meant he was able to force her to make false prophecies, such as the tale about troublesome stones in the river that led to Storm-fur and Brook being driven out. When she was unable to receive warnings from Star-Clan, she didn’t know about the two-leg poison on River-Clan territory that started killing her Clan-mates, and her warrior ancestors couldn’t tell her where to find catmint when green-cough struck. Terrified that her lie might be destroying her clan, Moth-wing confided in leaf-pool, who began speaking to Mud-fur in dreams on her behalf.
Star-Clan found a better solution in Willow-paw, the River-Clan cat who showed an interest in becoming a medicine cat while she was a kit. She became Moth-wing’s apprentice and was visited in her dreams by Feather-tail and leaf-pool for the Star-Clan part of her training. Willow-paw accepts Moth-wing’s lack of belief in their warrior ancestors because she respects her in every other way- and well she should. For once I believe Star-Clan has acted in every cat’s best interests.
