The dawn of the Days of Falling Leaves always brought with it a calming presence before the eventual heavy rains. Roseflame watched as the two toms patrolling with her pounced in the leaves, playing and enjoying themselves. Neither were kits though. “If there was another cat on our territory, your loud noises would have scared them off by now!” Her voice was harsh, and the other two immediately stopped.
“Sorry, Roseflame. It’s my first autumn since leaving the cave.” Batsong was quiet in his reply, but Roseflame rolled her eyes.
“We have leaves back at camp! You don’t need to ruin this patrol with your antics.” Beeheart flicked his tail at the she-cat’s words.
“You don’t need to snap at him, Roseflame. So what? He was having some fun. Calm down and stop acting like you’ve got bees in your pelt.” His tail gently touched Batsong as he walked past, and the younger tom followed, leaving Roseflame behind. She watched as the two toms walked through the forest, eventually moving out of sight. Were they going to continue the patrol without her? Would it make more sense for her to just go back to camp?
Roseflame sighed and continued along the patrol path. She knew the toms wouldn’t do a good job scouting for any signs of intruders. However, as she neared RippleClan’s border, a cat leaped out at her. She was about to scream at Beeheart for scaring her, but piercing blue eyes stared down at her.
“What’s a pretty lady like you doing in a dump like this?” The tom purred. She pushed him off but he only laughed. “C’mon, don’t be like that. I just wanted to say hi.” Roseflame noticed his bright blue collar dangling loosely around his neck.
“I don’t associate with kittypets.” She spat. “Get out of BoulderClan’s territory. You’re not welcome.”
“Not welcome, eh? What about Violet and Bee? Why are they allowed to hang around when they’re ‘kittypets’ just like me?” His smirk made her eyes flame.
“Violetwish and Beeheart are valued members of our clan who have given up your pitiful life to live one of fulfilment. They’re so much better than you.” The white tom laughed at Roseflame, only fuelling her disgust.
“They don’t want to be here, kitty. Trust me. They’d both much rather be curled up in their owners’ homes, eating kibble and being content. Not fighting for survival.” Roseflame felt her muscles clench at his words, ready to strike. A shadow leaped from the nearby bushes and bowled over the kittypet, shock covering the she-cat’s face. Beeheart pinned the white cat down, digging his claws into the other’s shoulders. Batsong slowly emerged after, not wanting to get in the middle of a fight.
“Don’t you dare speak to my clanmate in that way, Snookums.” Roseflame held back a laugh. Snookums? “I made my choice to leave and I will never go back. Sure, I miss the constant warmth and food whenever I want, but I love my new family more.” Snookums snarled, but Batsong raked his claws across his face, silencing him. Blood tainted the pure white fur. Beeheart carefully stepped off the tom and stood next to Roseflame.
“I wanted to find out how quickly you died out here. Simple. But you’re alive, so I’ll be going.” With a leap and a bound, Snookums flew back towards the southern twoleg nests. Roseflame sighed.
“Thank you for attacking him, Beeheart, Batsong. I was getting ready to, but you two did well in scaring him off.” Her voice was kind and genuine, unlike her usual somewhat snappy tone. “At least we got to patrol him away.”
“No problem. Thank StarClan he didn’t try and attack you first.” The she-cat opened her mouth to reply, but Batsong continued. “You would have shredded him to pieces!” The three cats shared a laugh, and slowly headed back to camp, ready to tell everyone about the stuck-up, self-entitled kittypet called Snookums.
write about or draw a meeting between your leader or medicine cat with starclan (1191/200)
"Stonestar, are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Violetwish's voice was meek as she watched her leader and deputy begin to walk down the slopes on the edge of the camp. The grey tom turned back and shook his head. "Well, I wish you both luck. I'm sure StarClan will be happy to meet with you both."
"Thank you, Violetwish. I'm sure we'll be back before you start missing us." The leader winked, and the she-cat laughed. Lionwing rolled his eyes and followed his leader, the two barely speaking. The journey to the Star Tree was remarkably unexciting. The Deadlands were quiet; no birds of prey or snakes to contend with. Lionwing tripped over a large stick, and Stonestar laughed at him, but otherwise the two cats made it to the Tree by sunhigh without any complications.
“I still don’t understand why you didn’t want Violetwish with you. She’s your medicine cat. She’s probably closer to StarClan than anyone else here.” Lionwing spoke softly, though Stonestar could tell he was getting frustrated.
“I will tell you why after we talk to StarClan.” Stonestar’s voice shook, but even when Lionwing tried to reply, he shook his head. “Let us sleep. We will speak when this is over and you will understand everything. I promise you, Lionwing. You will understand.”
The two cats made their way under the dead tree in silence, curling up next to each other, partially due to the lack of room, but also because Stonestar was scared. He knew StarClan was going to hate him for this, and part of him really didn’t want to know what their reaction would be. As he drifted off, he was met with the wide, open fields of StarClan. He was brought out of the momentary comfort by a she-cat screaming at him. “You cannot step down!” Her voice was high and shill, and Stonestar felt his entire body stiffen at the noise. He turned around and was met with piercing eyes and a snarl; Acornfur, the one who brought him to BoulderClan.
“Acornfur, I can’t do this! Being a leader isn’t in my blood!” He tired to keep his composure, to not cry in front of this warrior.
“StarClan has given you this honour for a reason, Stonestar! Don’t try and fight us.”
“Please, I don’t want this anymore. I lost a life to a stupid snake! What leader does that?”
“Mistakes happen. You learnt a lesson from it, didn’t you?” Acornfur took a step towards the leader, and Stonestar could tell that she was ready to launch herself at him if he even considered pleading more. So he did.
“No. No I didn’t. Please. I’m begging you. Take my lives away.” The tom broke into a sob, collapsing to the ground. “Please. Give them to Lionwing. He’s a clan cat. He can lead them. I’m just… I’m just a stupid ol’ rogue.” Acornfur sat next to him, sighing. She wrapped her tail around him, trying to provide any sort of comfort. She hated what he was saying, StarClan hated it, but it was serious if he was this upset.
“Stonestar, you’re making a mistake. You can lead the clan fine, just-” Stonestar shot up, pushing away the starry she-cat.
“No! You thought I could keep this clan safe, but I can’t. I can’t lead cats when I don’t even know what I’m doing!” Silence fell between the two cats. The leader’s eyes blazed with fury.
“Stonestar, is this really what you want?” Acornfur’s lithe figure moved away at the sound of Boulderstar’s voice, disappearing into thin air. “Are you sure you’d give up your lives?” Stonestar felt a wave of relief wash over him at the sight of Boulderstar, but at the same time, he didn’t think that the tom would let him off lightly.
“I know I’ve failed you, but I don’t want to lead, Boulderstar. I don’t-”
“Quiet. Would you name your deputy Lionwing as the new leader?” The starry leader had a slight smile pulling at his mouth.
“I would.”
“You realise that because you only have 8 lives, he will only receive 8 lives?” Stonestar’s eyes widened briefly, but he relaxed. It was something he hadn’t thought about.
“I do.” His voice shook as he spoke.
“Then it’s settled.” The larger tom pressed his nose gently to Stonestar’s head. At first everything felt relaxing, but the pain quickly rippled through every inch of his body. His eyes were tightly shut, and his claws dug into the soft ground. His body grew heavy with the pain and it became increasingly difficult for him to remain standing. His breathing grew rugged and just as he was about to pass out, everything stopped. Boulderstar took a step backwards and looked Stonestar, no, Stonecloud up and down.
“Is it over?” The warrior spoke, still not opening his eyes.
“It is, Stonecloud. StarClan gave you this name as we did your leadership. Don’t make us take this one away too.”
--------- When Stonecloud awoke, Lionwing was nowhere to be found. With groggy steps he made it out of the tree roots, to see the other tom sitting by the water’s edge. “Lionwing? Is everything okay?”
“You gave up your lives for me?” Stonecloud gasped in realisation and walked to sit by his mate. “I know it was because you didn’t want to be leader though, not for my own ambition.” The ginger tom’s voice sounded different, like he truly was a leader.
“So you accepted?” Stonecloud gazed up at the larger cat, but he didn’t make contact.
“Of course I accepted. What would this clan be without a leader?” The bitter tang on his words made Stonecloud’s stomach flip. “I’m thinking Thorntooth as my deputy. I doubt you’d want the position. And Beeheart doesn’t know how to fight at all, it’d be stupid putting him in charge.” The new cat sitting next to him was something Stonecloud never expected; more harsh, angry, not the Lionwing he knew. No, Lionstar. The leader he didn’t know at all.
“I’m not coming back to camp.” Lionstar whipped his head to the side, eyes wide. “I’m not leaving the clan, but I need some time alone. As much as I feel it was the right decision, I can’t face my- your clan right now.” Stonecloud didn’t wait for Lionstar to speak before heading off.
---------
Lionstar walked into camp with his head down. The sun had almost finished setting, casting an orange glow over the camp. Violetwish and Beeheart were huddled together, Shadowpaw and Lightpaw were fighting with Thorntooth guiding their moves. It was almost like nothing had changed. Lightpaw was the first to notice that his mentor was back, and bounded over just as Shadowpaw went to claw his face.
“Stonestar and Lionwing are back!” The apprentice’s voice alerted the entire camp, and every turned to the entrance to see the ginger tom…alone. “Where’s Stonestar?” Lightpaw asked.
“Stonecloud will return when he is ready.” Lionstar could only hear murmurs as he took his place on Pigeon Point. He looked down at his clan, their confused faces gazing upwards.
His clan. BoulderClan.
write about or draw a scene of your choice
(664/200)
The muddy grass underfoot squelched as Aldertail and Berrysong carefully walked over it. The sun shone down on the pair, but the evidence of rain was still obvious. “I hate this weather.” Aldertail murmured.
“I know you do. Your old bones can’t handle the cold.” Berrysong snapped. The tom felt a low growl rise in his throat, but her sigh made him stop. “Sorry. I’m hungry. We’ve had barely any stops in the last few days.” She looked at him sympathetically. “Can we at least rest?”
“No. We need to keep going.” Berrysong groaned at his words.
“C’mon Aldertail. The moon’s setting, it’s getting dark, and I’m tired.” With a heavy sigh, the she-cat sat on the muddy ground, refusing to move. Aldertail looked back at her, but she wouldn’t make eye contact with him.
“You can’t just sit here in the middle of a mud patch. You’ll catch a cough and I don’t exactly have the herbs to heal you right now.” His words oozed annoyance, but as Berrysong lifted her head to look at him, she could see the concern in his eyes. The pair stared at each other for a few minutes before Aldertail gave in. “Okay. We’ll go a bit further and try to find a place to sleep. Somewhere dry.” The she-cat immediately jumped up and started walking away, her tail swishing happily.
They hadn’t walked very far into the forest before a rustling noise startled them. “What was that?” Berrysong mumbled. Before Aldertail could reply, she started sniffing the air. “Cat.” As she spoke, a white and brown cat jumped out at them, but missed and flew over Berrysong’s head. A black cat quickly followed, but Aldertail knocked them away with a flick of his paw.
“Amateurs.” The older tom remarked. The two ambushers looked at them with anger in their eyes, but both cats knew that the black cat was just as frightened as they were.
“What are you doing on BoulderClan territory?” The white cat asked, spitting at them. Berrysong glanced at Aldertail, clearly scared.
“Territory? We didn’t know. We didn’t detect the borders. We’re clan cats ourselves, you see. We know borders are important. We-” Berrysong was cut off with a hiss from the white cat. “Are you trying to take over our clan? Is that why you’re here?” Berrysong quickly shook her head.
“N-no. We’re just looking for our friend, Falcondream. He’s small and very fluffy and sees weird cats in his dreams.” Both the white cat and black cat’s eyes widened, and they looked at each other.
“How do you know Falcondream? You said he was your friend. He doesn’t have any friends outside the clan.” Finally, theblack cat spoke up, his voice young like a kit.
“His family ostracised him when he kept waking up from nightmares with the starry cats. He’d scream and shout and eventually he ended up sleeping in my den. I was the medicine cat. Could never fix him though. Berrysong here was his mentor. As soon as he got his warrior name, he left. We decided to follow.” Aldertail spoke at the ground, the feeling of dread flowing through him. Did Falcondream really not consider him and Berrysong as friends? “My name’s Aldertail. What are yours?” The two ambushers looked at each other, both trying to tell the other not to give away too much information.
“I’m Ratrunner.” The white tom said softly. “This is Batsong.” The black cat smiled at the other two. He really was the youngest of the group. “I don’t entirely trust either of you, but you’ve got to understand that you are intruders in our territory, no matter your connections to Falcondream, if you are telling the truth.”
“We understand.” Berrysong nodded. Aldertail went to open his mouth in protest, but got a mouthful of the she-cat’s tail instead.
“Alright. Come with us and you can see Lionstar. If he deems you okay, maybe you’ll even be able to stay here.”