Chapter Text
ALLEGIANCES
SWAMPLANDS CLAN (SWAMPCLAN)
Leader:
Blue Kingfisher – blue-grey she-cat with a silver muzzle
Deputies:
Leo Heart – long-haired golden tom
Apprentice, Dusty – dark brown tabby tom
Redclaw Tail – small tortoiseshell tom with a missing tail
Medicine cat:
Spotted Flowers – beautiful dark tortoiseshell she-cat
Preacher:
Thorny Rose – dark grey tabby she-cat with a red tail
Warriors:
Dotted Patches – dappled tortoiseshell she-cat
White Sky – large deaf white tom
Apprentice, Sand – pale ginger tortoiseshell she-cat
Willow Leaves – very pale grey she-cat with blue eyes
Tiger Slash – large dark brown tabby tom with green eyes
Running Gale – swift light brown tabby tom
Brindled Bark – light grey tabby she-cat
Burrowing Mouse – small dusky brown brindled she-cat
Snaking Tail – pale gold tabby tom with black stripes
Queens:
Shivering Fur – white she-cat with blue eyes
Golden Petals – pale gold tabby she-cat
Elders:
Pale Eye – almost blind and deaf pale grey she-cat
GRASSLANDS CLAN (GRASSCLAN)
Leader:
Tall Kite – black and white tom with a very long tail
Deputies:
Hopping Foot – black tom with a twisted paw
Ashen Paws – grey she-cat
Apprentice, Grey – long-haired grey tom
Medicine cat:
Paperbark Face – brown tom with a short tail
Preacher:
Bushy Tail – grey and white tom with yellow eyes
Warriors:
Dashing Tail – light cream she-cat
Faint Foot – blue-grey she-cat with darker paws
Kangaroo Leap – large dark ginger tom
Bright Fire – ginger tabby tom with a flame-coloured pelt
Apprentice, Stream – light grey she-cat
Muddy Strike – mottled dark brown tom
Apprentice, Web – dark grey tabby tom
Light Tail – small white she-cat
Lone Whisker – light brown tabby tom
Shadowy Stripes – sleek black and grey tabby tom
Queens:
Flowering Morning – tortoiseshell and white she-cat
(Mother to Gorse – brown tabby tom)
Elders:
Long Stalk – grey tabby she-cat
Slight Ears – grey tom with small ears
WETLANDS CLAN (WATERCLAN)
Leader:
Spotted Magpie – unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat
Deputies:
Brewing Storm – large light brown tabby tom with a twisted jaw
Misty Lake – grey she-cat with blue eyes
Medicine cat:
Clay Fur – long-haired light brown tom
Preacher:
Budding Brambles – small white she-cat with black spots
Warriors:
Silent Pool – dark grey she-cat with yellow eyes
Rumbling Belly – dark brown she-cat
Black Talons – smoky black tom
Leaping Frog – grey tom with a striped tail
Brittle Nutshell – dusty tortoiseshell she-cat with a white chest
Mossy Stone – blue-grey and white tom
Apprentice, Silver – silver she-cat with black stripes
Shaded Pelt – very dark grey she-cat
Hefty Bound – large brown tabby tom with black stripes
Queen:
Creeping Moss – dark tortoiseshell she-cat
(Mother to Dawn – very pale grey she-cat; Branch – dark grey tabby tom; and Chirp – brown and dark ginger tom)
Elders:
Black Beetle – black tom with yellow eyes
Pale Lily – pale grey tabby she-cat
Pike Fangs – dark brown tabby tom with long canine teeth
CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS
Copper – ginger tom with a flame-coloured pelt that lives in a house at the edge of the swamp
Oat – tall black and white tom that lives in a house at the edge of the swamp neighbouring Copper’s
Dutchess – tortoiseshell she-cat with a white chest and paws that lives in a house at the edge of the grasslands
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An old blue-grey she-cat sat alone. She silently gazed up at the night sky that was framed by mangrove branches. The same mangrove trees crowded Swampland Clan’s territory that fell south-east of the other wild cat clans. Cicadas creaked and possums crashed from tree to tree around her. The she-cat dipped an aching and aging paw into the murky swamp water, sending ripples towards outstretched mangrove roots. She smiled faintly. After countless seasons of being SwampClan’s leader, Blue Kingfisher always cherished her moments of reflection.
Two she-cats soundlessly weaved through tangled mangrove roots, and both sat on Blue Kingfisher’s left. Spotted Flowers, a tortoiseshell she-cat with soft amber eyes, tipped her head respectfully to her leader. “Greetings, Blue Kingfisher. You wanted to talk with us?”
“Yes… I did…” Blue Kingfisher meowed slowly “But I’ve forgotten what for…”
“To discuss StarClan’s lack of communication.” Thorny Rose prompted with an air of irritation. Her once dark grey muzzle was flecked with silver from age like Blue Kingfisher’s, but the tabby she-cat’s mind remained sharper than her leader’s.
Spotted Flowers gave Thorny Rose a pleading look. Don’t push her, the tortoiseshell medicine cat mouthed to her mother.
“Ah… Thank you, Thorny Rose. From my understanding, StarClan hasn’t sent you any… messages to interpret?” Blue Kingfisher asked her preacher.
“None, Blue Kingfisher,” Thorny Rose curtly shook her head. “Not for some time. Neither has Spotted Flowers.”
Blue Kingfisher’s shoulders fell, and her blue eyes became distant as she dropped into deep thought. Spotted Flowers stole a sympathetic look at the old she-cat. It was hard to tell if Blue Kingfisher was reflecting or falling asleep on her paws these days.
Supressing a sigh, Spotted Flowers turned her attention to the night sky. Icy stars blinked down at her. The crescent moon’s lopsided grin was nearly at its highest point in the sky. StarClan’s hunting grounds looked peaceful and serene… but also foreign and cold. One star, Spotted Flowers noticed, shone brighter than the others. It boldly blazed a radiant orange like its own nighttime sun. Spotted Flowers squinted at the anomaly. Was that always there? she wondered. Or is it… a sign? StarClan usually gives messages to preachers…
A glance at Thorny Rose confirmed her thoughts. The preacher was already leaning forwards and carefully studying the star. The swamp’s buzz of noise dulled. Ears pricked, eyes fixed, Spotted Flowers copied her mother and leaned forward, willing it to do something... anything!
We’re listening, StarClan! Please give us your wisdom! Give us-
“Spotted Flowers?... When did you get here… hmm?” Blue Kingfisher mewled with surprise. The SwampClan leader gave Spotted Flowers a dazed but polite smile. “You’re… very stealthy!”
“B-Blue Kingfisher, I was always h-”
The sky erupted with fire. Flames clawed from star to star, consuming them like leaves and fuelling the fire’s spread which blazed brightest at the original orange star. Blue Kingfisher became a wisp of blue as the fire rained from the sky. Mangroves instantly withered to ash. The inferno released a terrible crackle like thunder, the sound of millions of fires snapping at once. The sound roared in Spotted Flower’s ears. The she-cat cowered in shock and desperately shielded her watering eyes from the fire. Flames hungry licked at her pelt and forced Spotted Flower’s body lower into the solid mud. Flashes of Thorny Rose’s striped pelt appeared through the blaze. The preacher bunched the muscles in her legs as she strained her head against the raining fire. Hardened from years of messages and visions, Thorny Rose set her jaw, sunk her claws into the earth and fiercely stared towards the sky.
“S-StarClan?” was all Spotted Flowers could whimper.
A statement, as unmistakable as day is from night, cut through the inferno and into Thorny Rose and Spotted Flower’s heads.
BURN OR PERISH.