Ash to Ash

“Helpless?” Stone sounded astonished. “I gave them a choice of whether to be attacked or not; I don’t call that helpless!”

Sorrel’s lip curled. Vivian glanced nervously from Stone to Jessie to Carmine. Sure enough, Jessie had a look of purest hatred on her face, and Carmine cowered behind the older cats, raw terror coming from the ginger kitten in waves.

Vivian wanted to say it would be okay, but the words didn’t come. She couldn’t lie to Carmine, especially not after what the kitten had been through. She’d seen death, committed betrayal, been chased from her home, and then sought out again, and she wasn’t even a year old. Her experiences had changed her.

Sorrel spoke, her voice quivering—not with fear, but with rage. The full force of Vivian’s sister’s fury swept over her like a tidal wave, freezing and burning her at the same time. “You tried to force them into submission,” Sorrel spat. “If they didn’t agree to obey your every command you either manipulated them or tried to kill them.”

Vivian took a deep breath and stepped up beside her sister, paws quaking with fear. She swallowed hard, opened her mouth, and meowed, “You see what you’ve done to your family? Jessie, and Dawn, and Carmine, and Cricket? You see what you’ve done?” She was yowling now. Sorrel’s tail curled around and brushed Vivian’s flank. She had spoken well.

Meanwhile, Ivy was trembling. Ivy had been delicate from the beginning; her sister’s betrayal had nearly sent her over the edge, and she was fighting hard already just to keep from wailing at the sight of Amber among the ranks of the enemy.

“We finish this tonight,” Stone growled. “Now we will see who the true ruler of the forest is.”

“No one can rule the forest,” Jessie snarled, her yellow eyes glittering fiercely as she transformed from gentle, caring Jessie into a ferocious, bristling black creature. “You are just a traitor and a fiend. I don’t know how I could ever stand to look at you. You do not belong in this forest, Stone! I will kill you if you don’t leave right now!”

“Keep your whiskers on,” Stone purred smoothly. “I think you’ve got it backward, Jess.”

Jessie bristled more at the name. “Don’t call me Jess!”

Stone narrowed his icy blue eyes. “All right, Jess,” he growled, sneering at the furious glare she shot him. “Here’s the evidence: You betrayed me. You ran off with those spoiled showcats and pretended you never wanted a mate in the first place. I believe I can rule the forest. After all, I’m about to. And what was that about me not belonging? Which of us was born in the forest? Which of us has a right to stay? And which of us is a pampered kitten, fed by those ridiculous humans?

“Well?” he meowed, to nods and meows of approval from his followers. “That wraps it up. You will leave the forest, or we will kill you.”

(only edit I made was to put extra spaces between the paragraphs to make it easier to read)

The loner licked his fur. Nothing could stop him now, he was certain of it!
It had been a taxing day. He’d been chased by foxes, Twolegs, badgers, cougars, and all sorts of enemies. What’s more, he’d been having those kinds of days all the time.
Finally, though, he was now gazing down at a shining expanse of water. Stars twinkled above and below him, sparkling shards of light in sky and sea.
A vast beach spanned the length of the water’s edge, and waves lapped at the shore. The loner’s eyes were already adjusted to the dark, and he could see the mica-flecked sand.
Nothing below seemed to stir, but above the cat’s head, a bat darted back and forth. He sat and watched the tiny, mouselike creature as it ate insects.
“Good day,” he meowed, feigning politeness. “Sir Bat, I expect you know what’s coming; if I were you, I’d scram before someone eats you.”
The loner leaped up in a spectacular attempt to catch the flitting bat, but missed and came tumbling down to earth with a thud.
A sudden flash of lightning startled the cat, and he blinked. Steady rain began to fall; it was more thoroughly soaking than the previous drizzle.
The bat retreated, and the loner stared upwards. Stars no longer shone. Clouds covered the sky.
But the miracle was that the sea reflected no clouds. Stars still blinked in the rippling water.
A sign: he was meant to be here. He knew it before, but here was his proof.
A sign! He was an amazing sign-reader. To other cats, the sea would be cloudy, with dark shapes hiding the stars. To him, all the brightness of the ancient, faraway fireballs blazed in the waves.
A sign. The cat sighed. He loved his sign-reading powers, but he was tired of sign after sign after sign invading his life.
Evil was coming, though, and he was glad there were still signs.
“These cats better believe me,” he muttered. “If they don’t, this is a waste of time.”
The cat began to bound down the sloping foothill. The perilous mountains loomed behind him and to his left. In front of him, the sea was no longer starry. The moon hung high in the air, only partially hidden by the massive clouds.
The loner felt a chill that could be lessened by entering the water; he’d heard of sea breezes and land breezes.
But for tonight, he’d brave the cold. It wasn’t actually cold, just a little chilly.
“I’ll get those cats’ help.” The loner felt his eyes closing. “I’ll get them, or my name’s not Starrise.”

“Yes. Uh, well, what are you going to name them?”
“These are the Destined, Reddawn.” As the oldest healer, Blazeleaf would make one of her cubs the leader after Reddawn.
- demonstrating a part of tribe culture

additionally, each tribe had a set of five or so guards, two cats (of whatever species) who basically ran around deescalating fights, always five healers at any time, and

healers were all but required to have kits; if Blazeleaf had died before Reddawn, then the next oldest healer's kits would be the new Destined, and the old Destined kits' names would be changed to reflect their demotion

-wing and -pool always indicated Destined
-leaf always indicated a healer
-(tribe prefix as suffix) was the leader
also, after Foxdawn died, his name became Dawnfox because technically he wasn't the leader anymore: they flip

also!!! even if you were a regular hunter (they also participated in large scale battles but since battles were something to be avoided, they were referred to as hunters) there were five ranks, and it was difficult but possible to move between ranks! this was added to world canon after this document, so there are characters named things like Reed and Coal, which in the "updated" canon would indicate the equivalent to an apprentice

from highest to lowest, the five ranks were indicated by -heart, -flight, -uhhh I think it was pelt, -claw, and -tail