Post by lesbiansandstorm™ on Sept 28, 2018 1:54:03 GMT -5
Hey, so I have an AU involving Sandstorm becoming leader instead of Firestar, it's forever in development but I thought I'd post about it here. Just in point form for now. Long post!
The main idea is there's no major prophecy like the 'Fire alone will save our Clan' one. Sandstorm was never destined by StarClan to become leader, she just ended up in the position and did the best she could.
StarClan also doesn't have the power to see the future in this AU. Their role is to guide the living cats as best they can. I do some editing of characters' families, ages, and timeline events to try and eliminate some of the large age gap and related relationships seen in canon. There are LGBT+ cats. I don't care for genetics or realism.
Sandstorm's bio parents are Brindleface and Runningwind, but she was also raised by Runningwind's mate Redtail, who is a trans male. She's quite close with her three parents, but closest to Redtail especially. Ferncloud and Ashfur are her full siblings, they are 5 moons younger. [Runningwind had a loner mother and a WindClan father, his mother couldn't look after him, and didn't know where to find the WindClan camp, so she went to the closest, ThunderClan.] So she has ThunderClan, WindClan, and outsider heritage.
Dustpelt and Ravenpaw's bio parents are Halftail and an unknown mother, likely a rogue or loner. The unknown heritage is a touchy subject for Dustpelt.
-Firepaw joins the clan as in the books. He's about 7 moons old, same age as Sandpaw, Dustpaw, and Ravenpaw. Graystripe is a bit older than them, a newly made warrior at about 13 moons. He was Tigerclaw's apprentice. Longtail is around his age, too. He becomes close with Ravenpaw, Sandpaw and Dustpaw don't bully him as bad as in the books - they're a bit skeptical of the ability of a kittypet, but they soon warm up to him. There is no attraction between Firepaw and Spottedleaf. Firepaw is a lot more chill than in canon, he's more like a canon Graystripe/Brackenfur personality wise. The sort of cat to apologise to prey after catching it.
-Events of Into The Wild are much the same, except with more focus on Sand and Dust's friendship.
The mentors are:
Sandpaw: Whitestorm
Dustpaw: Redtail and then Runningwind
Ravenpaw: Willowpelt
Firepaw: Lionheart
Ravenpaw is at the battle where Tigerclaw kills Redtail, and is threatened by the dark tabby. He leaves to live with Barley, who is younger than in canon.
Sand, Fire, and Dust all get their warrior names at 12 moons. Lionheart dies soon after, and Tigerclaw is named deputy.
Fireheart is relatively popular in the Clan, with Tigerclaw being the only one that dislikes him. He brings a 5-moon-old Cloudkit to join the clan about a month after getting his name.
So, at 14 moons, the trio get their first apprentices.
Sandstorm: Cinderpaw
Dustpelt: Thornpaw
Fireheart: Cloudpaw
Along with Graystripe, who gets Brackenpaw, and Whitestorm, who gets Brightpaw. Cinderpaw gets hit by a car and pushed into the role of medcat apprentice after Tigerclaw convinced Bluestar that she couldn't be a warrior. Yellowfang is her mentor, but isn't trusted in the Clan due to being formerly from ShadowClan. Tigerclaw encourages this mistrust, it is why he wanted her to have an apprentice to keep an eye on her.
Here's where things really start to change.
Brightpaw and Swiftpaw get attacked by two dogs. [This happens early, about Forest of Secrets in canon time. There's no loose pack, just 2 dogs.] As in canon, Swiftpaw unfortunately dies and Brightpaw is badly injured. Bluestar was nearby and went to assist the apprentices, managing to scare the dogs away. Tigerclaw, the Clan deputy, is witness to all this, and decides to attack an injured Bluestar once the dogs are gone. He bites her neck and dunks her in the river to make it look like she fell in and was unable to swim to safety.
He takes over ThunderClan, naming Graystripe (Who isn’t evil but was manipulated by his mentor) as his deputy. This comes as a surprise to many, most cats would have assumed he'd pick someone experienced like Whitestorm.
Sandstorm and friends are suspicious. They have testimony from Ravenpaw that Tigerstar is no good. Yellowfang also suspects Bluestar was murdered, and tries to talk to StarClan about it, but they offer little help. Yellowfang is in a situation, here. If she openly accuses the new leader, he could deny her accusations and frame her as 'crazy' or a traitor to ThunderClan. Due to Tigerstar already mistrusting her, she decided to stay quiet until she can give Cinderpaw her full name, so if she's exiled ThunderClan still has a medicine cat.
Soon after, Crookedstar dies. Tigerstar approaches Leopardfur, saying their Clans should become allies, they'd be joint leaders. She agrees. RiverClan's warriors and apprentices go to the ThunderClan camp (with a few staying behind to defend kits and elders.).
Immediately, Tigerstar takes control. He sends the RiverClan cats to hunt in the forest. Not used to the territory, they don't catch much. Tigerstar tells them they can't eat. Despite Leopardfur's protests (she has not received her name or lives), Tigerstar becomes a dictator.
ThunderClan absolutely hate that RiverClan are in their camp. Sandstorm uses it as an opportunity to talk to Whitestorm and the senior warriors (but no Tigerstar supporters) about her suspicions. They believe her. Sandstorm becomes friends with Silverstream of RiverClan.
Meanwhile, Tigerstar has a meeting with Scourge at fourtrees. Scourge promises him 4 of BloodClan's best warriors to be Tigerstar's 'bodyguards', saying he will later ask for something in return. Tigerstar accepts.
Over time, the rest of ThunderClan become aware that Tigerstar is truely a murderer. Runningwind questions him, openly asking if he killed Bluestar. Tigerstar orders one of the BloodClan guards to attack Runningwind. The other guards surround the two, preventing anyone from helping the warrior. Runningwind is killed, Sandstorm is devastated. Silverstream helps to comfort her, the two are now very close friends.
Leopardfur decided to end their alliance immediately, but Tigerstar gets his guards to attack and kill Stonefur, threatening the two Clans that the same will happen to them if they question him.
Despite all this, Tigerstar isn't aware the Clans know he killed Bluestar. After the deaths of Running and Stone, he claims his bodyguards are being too harsh, in an attempt to ease the minds of the Clan cats.
Sandstorm, furious about the deaths of her fathers, becomes more reckless. One afternoon, she questions why a strong warrior like Tigerstar would need to hide behind four bodyguards. He answers her, telling her they are for doing his 'dirty work'. He mistakes her anger for malice, and begins to take an interest in her.
She begins to develop an idea. Perhaps if she can get Tigerstar to trust her, she can report back to Whitestorm and the other decent cats on his plans, to hopefully prepare the Clans for his next moves. This idea slowly works. She pretends to be cold and uncaring, gaining his trust. He doesn't tell her anything too important, however. Around this time, Silverstream becomes pregnant to Graystripe, though there was never a romantic relationship between them. She survives her kitting.
Tigerstar continues to depend on his bodyguards. He never gets involved in physical disputes, and spends most of his time in his den, unless he is on the Highrock giving orders. This may seem like laziness, but it is actually paranoia. Tigerstar is terrified of dying or being cast away from the position he thinks he 'earned'.
About 8 moons later, Silverstream's kits are apprenticed. Feather and Storm have no relationship with their father.
By this point, we're about at Rising Storm in book-time. Cinderpelt receives her full name.
Tigerstar orders Graystripe to lead an attack on WindClan and ShadowClan, who outnumber TigerClan.
The battle is horrendous, Graystripe dies from his wounds. Tigerstar then appoints Sandstorm as his deputy, after moonhigh, with the wrong words. She hadn't trained an apprentice to completion. She is shocked, to say the least. Her plan worked too well. She has no clue what she's doing, and relies on Whitestorm for assistance.
Some RiverClan cats quietly accuse her of actually being loyal to Tigerstar, but Silverstream defends her.
The day after her deputy ceremony, at a Clan meeting, Tigerstar says Sandstorm must prove herself. She has no clue what this means. He orders her to attack young Featherpaw. Sandstorm, understandably, is horrified at the suggestion, but she notices Dustpelt motioning to his own paw, and then at Sandstorm.
She looks down at her own paw, remembering she was injured in the battle that killed Graystripe. With her back to Tigerstar, her front facing the gathered cats, she pulls the cobweb off the wound and reopens it. She then pounces on Featherpaw, hissing in the young cats ear, 'Pretend i'm hurting you!'. Her own blood falls on the young cat's fur. From the Highrock, it looks like she's actually attacked Feather. Tigerstar asks her to stop, saying she didn't have to kill her. He then tells his new deputy that he's proud of her.
Not long after, the fire strikes the camp. Tigerstar is the first out, not bothering to help anyone. Same as in canon, most of the cats escape to the river. Yellowfang is found by Sandstorm, dying. She states that she knows Sandstorm isn't evil, and tells her she is a good deputy despite the circumstances, but she doesn't think she'll stay deputy for long.
Sandstorm assumes this means she will die soon. That is not the case.
TigerClan stays in the River camp while the Thunder one is rebuilt. Back in her home territory, Silverstream's kits take to the water like fish. Silverstream however, finds she has grown used to the trees of ThunderClan.
A few more moons pass, Scourge visits Tigerstar, saying he is taking his cats back. He also wants to take the territory belonging to Wind and ShadowClan. Tigerstar doesn't see Scourge as a threat.
He arranges for Wind and Shadow to meet Tiger and BloodClans at Fourtrees, where he asks Wind/Shadow to join TigerClan or die. They refuse. Sandstorm sees Leopardfur quickly talking to Tallstar and Blackstar (who is leader early since Tiger didn't go to Shadow), and she walks over to them, trying to explain the whole Tigerstar-is-evil-we-aren't-BloodClan-is-bad thing as fast as possible. Leopardfur tells her to explain the situation to everyone now, as she may not get another chance.
So, Sandstorm interrupts Tigerstar and tells the Clans of his bad deeds. Tigerstar is shocked and furious, he cannot believe his deputy had turned on him. Now, its the four clans vs BloodClan + Tigerstar... or so he thinks. He orders BloodClan to attack. They do not. He attacks Scourge, who kills him.
He doesn't die nine times, however. He only dies once. He never got his nine lives from StarClan, which is why he became so paranoid. As he bleeds out, the forest is almost silent. Scourge gives the Clans three days to decide whether they stay and fight him, or surrender their territory.
Now knowing Sandstorm isn't a murderous traitor like Tigerstar, the other leaders agree to join together and defend their home. Leopardfur immediately leaves for the Moonstone, asking if Sandstorm would take the gathered River and ThunderClan cats back to the River camp where they'd been staying, to tell the news of Tigerstar's death and Scourge to the cats left at home. Once she returns from the Moonstone, the ThunderClan cats will go back to their camp. TigerClan is no more.
Sandstorm turns to Whitestorm, asking what they should do next. The old tom tells her that it's up to her as she is Clan leader now. This stops Sandstorm in her tracks. She hadn't even thought of that. She immediately thinks she is unfit to be leader, since she was made deputy without fully training an apprentice, the ceremony was late and used the wrong words. There was also the fact that she'd manipulated Tigerstar into trusting her, and he wasn't even seen as leader in the eyes of StarClan, so how could she be?
Her warriors, however, give her their support. At the RiverClan camp, after Leopardstar's return, she names Mistyfoot as deputy. Sandstorm gathers the ThunderClan cats, dreading the goodbye to Silverstream. The silver tabby is busy talking to her kits, who are now nearly through their apprenticeship. She approaches Sandstorm and Leopardstar, apologising to the latter, before asking Sandstorm if she could join ThunderClan. The two had grown very close over time. She would miss her kits, but they would be warriors soon, and she felt she couldn't be truly loyal to her birth clan if her heart was on the other side of the river. Sandstorm, being slightly clueless, doesn't quite get what this means. She accepts Silverstream's offer, to the amusement of Fireheart and Dustpelt.
The next day she goes to the Moonstone, fearing rejection from StarClan. She gets her nine lives though. From Redtail, Runningwind, Yellowfang, Swiftpaw, Crookedstar, Bluestar, Stonefur, Halftail, and Brindleface. She is named Sandstar.
Whitestorm is appointed deputy, and the BloodClan battle happens mostly like in-canon. The Clans win, but Whitestorm dies after the battle (instead of during).
Sandstar struggles between choosing Fireheart or Dustpelt as the next deputy. Both are two of her closest friends, and great warriors. She eventually decided to pick Dustpelt.
Soon after, she and Silverstream officially become mates.
okay if you read that far, good job! there's more to this, i tried to only detail important things, but ended up rambling as you can see.
The main idea is there's no major prophecy like the 'Fire alone will save our Clan' one. Sandstorm was never destined by StarClan to become leader, she just ended up in the position and did the best she could.
StarClan also doesn't have the power to see the future in this AU. Their role is to guide the living cats as best they can. I do some editing of characters' families, ages, and timeline events to try and eliminate some of the large age gap and related relationships seen in canon. There are LGBT+ cats. I don't care for genetics or realism.
Sandstorm's bio parents are Brindleface and Runningwind, but she was also raised by Runningwind's mate Redtail, who is a trans male. She's quite close with her three parents, but closest to Redtail especially. Ferncloud and Ashfur are her full siblings, they are 5 moons younger. [Runningwind had a loner mother and a WindClan father, his mother couldn't look after him, and didn't know where to find the WindClan camp, so she went to the closest, ThunderClan.] So she has ThunderClan, WindClan, and outsider heritage.
Dustpelt and Ravenpaw's bio parents are Halftail and an unknown mother, likely a rogue or loner. The unknown heritage is a touchy subject for Dustpelt.
-Firepaw joins the clan as in the books. He's about 7 moons old, same age as Sandpaw, Dustpaw, and Ravenpaw. Graystripe is a bit older than them, a newly made warrior at about 13 moons. He was Tigerclaw's apprentice. Longtail is around his age, too. He becomes close with Ravenpaw, Sandpaw and Dustpaw don't bully him as bad as in the books - they're a bit skeptical of the ability of a kittypet, but they soon warm up to him. There is no attraction between Firepaw and Spottedleaf. Firepaw is a lot more chill than in canon, he's more like a canon Graystripe/Brackenfur personality wise. The sort of cat to apologise to prey after catching it.
-Events of Into The Wild are much the same, except with more focus on Sand and Dust's friendship.
The mentors are:
Sandpaw: Whitestorm
Dustpaw: Redtail and then Runningwind
Ravenpaw: Willowpelt
Firepaw: Lionheart
Ravenpaw is at the battle where Tigerclaw kills Redtail, and is threatened by the dark tabby. He leaves to live with Barley, who is younger than in canon.
Sand, Fire, and Dust all get their warrior names at 12 moons. Lionheart dies soon after, and Tigerclaw is named deputy.
Fireheart is relatively popular in the Clan, with Tigerclaw being the only one that dislikes him. He brings a 5-moon-old Cloudkit to join the clan about a month after getting his name.
So, at 14 moons, the trio get their first apprentices.
Sandstorm: Cinderpaw
Dustpelt: Thornpaw
Fireheart: Cloudpaw
Along with Graystripe, who gets Brackenpaw, and Whitestorm, who gets Brightpaw. Cinderpaw gets hit by a car and pushed into the role of medcat apprentice after Tigerclaw convinced Bluestar that she couldn't be a warrior. Yellowfang is her mentor, but isn't trusted in the Clan due to being formerly from ShadowClan. Tigerclaw encourages this mistrust, it is why he wanted her to have an apprentice to keep an eye on her.
Here's where things really start to change.
Brightpaw and Swiftpaw get attacked by two dogs. [This happens early, about Forest of Secrets in canon time. There's no loose pack, just 2 dogs.] As in canon, Swiftpaw unfortunately dies and Brightpaw is badly injured. Bluestar was nearby and went to assist the apprentices, managing to scare the dogs away. Tigerclaw, the Clan deputy, is witness to all this, and decides to attack an injured Bluestar once the dogs are gone. He bites her neck and dunks her in the river to make it look like she fell in and was unable to swim to safety.
He takes over ThunderClan, naming Graystripe (Who isn’t evil but was manipulated by his mentor) as his deputy. This comes as a surprise to many, most cats would have assumed he'd pick someone experienced like Whitestorm.
Sandstorm and friends are suspicious. They have testimony from Ravenpaw that Tigerstar is no good. Yellowfang also suspects Bluestar was murdered, and tries to talk to StarClan about it, but they offer little help. Yellowfang is in a situation, here. If she openly accuses the new leader, he could deny her accusations and frame her as 'crazy' or a traitor to ThunderClan. Due to Tigerstar already mistrusting her, she decided to stay quiet until she can give Cinderpaw her full name, so if she's exiled ThunderClan still has a medicine cat.
Soon after, Crookedstar dies. Tigerstar approaches Leopardfur, saying their Clans should become allies, they'd be joint leaders. She agrees. RiverClan's warriors and apprentices go to the ThunderClan camp (with a few staying behind to defend kits and elders.).
Immediately, Tigerstar takes control. He sends the RiverClan cats to hunt in the forest. Not used to the territory, they don't catch much. Tigerstar tells them they can't eat. Despite Leopardfur's protests (she has not received her name or lives), Tigerstar becomes a dictator.
ThunderClan absolutely hate that RiverClan are in their camp. Sandstorm uses it as an opportunity to talk to Whitestorm and the senior warriors (but no Tigerstar supporters) about her suspicions. They believe her. Sandstorm becomes friends with Silverstream of RiverClan.
Meanwhile, Tigerstar has a meeting with Scourge at fourtrees. Scourge promises him 4 of BloodClan's best warriors to be Tigerstar's 'bodyguards', saying he will later ask for something in return. Tigerstar accepts.
Over time, the rest of ThunderClan become aware that Tigerstar is truely a murderer. Runningwind questions him, openly asking if he killed Bluestar. Tigerstar orders one of the BloodClan guards to attack Runningwind. The other guards surround the two, preventing anyone from helping the warrior. Runningwind is killed, Sandstorm is devastated. Silverstream helps to comfort her, the two are now very close friends.
Leopardfur decided to end their alliance immediately, but Tigerstar gets his guards to attack and kill Stonefur, threatening the two Clans that the same will happen to them if they question him.
Despite all this, Tigerstar isn't aware the Clans know he killed Bluestar. After the deaths of Running and Stone, he claims his bodyguards are being too harsh, in an attempt to ease the minds of the Clan cats.
Sandstorm, furious about the deaths of her fathers, becomes more reckless. One afternoon, she questions why a strong warrior like Tigerstar would need to hide behind four bodyguards. He answers her, telling her they are for doing his 'dirty work'. He mistakes her anger for malice, and begins to take an interest in her.
She begins to develop an idea. Perhaps if she can get Tigerstar to trust her, she can report back to Whitestorm and the other decent cats on his plans, to hopefully prepare the Clans for his next moves. This idea slowly works. She pretends to be cold and uncaring, gaining his trust. He doesn't tell her anything too important, however. Around this time, Silverstream becomes pregnant to Graystripe, though there was never a romantic relationship between them. She survives her kitting.
Tigerstar continues to depend on his bodyguards. He never gets involved in physical disputes, and spends most of his time in his den, unless he is on the Highrock giving orders. This may seem like laziness, but it is actually paranoia. Tigerstar is terrified of dying or being cast away from the position he thinks he 'earned'.
About 8 moons later, Silverstream's kits are apprenticed. Feather and Storm have no relationship with their father.
By this point, we're about at Rising Storm in book-time. Cinderpelt receives her full name.
Tigerstar orders Graystripe to lead an attack on WindClan and ShadowClan, who outnumber TigerClan.
The battle is horrendous, Graystripe dies from his wounds. Tigerstar then appoints Sandstorm as his deputy, after moonhigh, with the wrong words. She hadn't trained an apprentice to completion. She is shocked, to say the least. Her plan worked too well. She has no clue what she's doing, and relies on Whitestorm for assistance.
Some RiverClan cats quietly accuse her of actually being loyal to Tigerstar, but Silverstream defends her.
The day after her deputy ceremony, at a Clan meeting, Tigerstar says Sandstorm must prove herself. She has no clue what this means. He orders her to attack young Featherpaw. Sandstorm, understandably, is horrified at the suggestion, but she notices Dustpelt motioning to his own paw, and then at Sandstorm.
She looks down at her own paw, remembering she was injured in the battle that killed Graystripe. With her back to Tigerstar, her front facing the gathered cats, she pulls the cobweb off the wound and reopens it. She then pounces on Featherpaw, hissing in the young cats ear, 'Pretend i'm hurting you!'. Her own blood falls on the young cat's fur. From the Highrock, it looks like she's actually attacked Feather. Tigerstar asks her to stop, saying she didn't have to kill her. He then tells his new deputy that he's proud of her.
Not long after, the fire strikes the camp. Tigerstar is the first out, not bothering to help anyone. Same as in canon, most of the cats escape to the river. Yellowfang is found by Sandstorm, dying. She states that she knows Sandstorm isn't evil, and tells her she is a good deputy despite the circumstances, but she doesn't think she'll stay deputy for long.
Sandstorm assumes this means she will die soon. That is not the case.
TigerClan stays in the River camp while the Thunder one is rebuilt. Back in her home territory, Silverstream's kits take to the water like fish. Silverstream however, finds she has grown used to the trees of ThunderClan.
A few more moons pass, Scourge visits Tigerstar, saying he is taking his cats back. He also wants to take the territory belonging to Wind and ShadowClan. Tigerstar doesn't see Scourge as a threat.
He arranges for Wind and Shadow to meet Tiger and BloodClans at Fourtrees, where he asks Wind/Shadow to join TigerClan or die. They refuse. Sandstorm sees Leopardfur quickly talking to Tallstar and Blackstar (who is leader early since Tiger didn't go to Shadow), and she walks over to them, trying to explain the whole Tigerstar-is-evil-we-aren't-BloodClan-is-bad thing as fast as possible. Leopardfur tells her to explain the situation to everyone now, as she may not get another chance.
So, Sandstorm interrupts Tigerstar and tells the Clans of his bad deeds. Tigerstar is shocked and furious, he cannot believe his deputy had turned on him. Now, its the four clans vs BloodClan + Tigerstar... or so he thinks. He orders BloodClan to attack. They do not. He attacks Scourge, who kills him.
He doesn't die nine times, however. He only dies once. He never got his nine lives from StarClan, which is why he became so paranoid. As he bleeds out, the forest is almost silent. Scourge gives the Clans three days to decide whether they stay and fight him, or surrender their territory.
Now knowing Sandstorm isn't a murderous traitor like Tigerstar, the other leaders agree to join together and defend their home. Leopardfur immediately leaves for the Moonstone, asking if Sandstorm would take the gathered River and ThunderClan cats back to the River camp where they'd been staying, to tell the news of Tigerstar's death and Scourge to the cats left at home. Once she returns from the Moonstone, the ThunderClan cats will go back to their camp. TigerClan is no more.
Sandstorm turns to Whitestorm, asking what they should do next. The old tom tells her that it's up to her as she is Clan leader now. This stops Sandstorm in her tracks. She hadn't even thought of that. She immediately thinks she is unfit to be leader, since she was made deputy without fully training an apprentice, the ceremony was late and used the wrong words. There was also the fact that she'd manipulated Tigerstar into trusting her, and he wasn't even seen as leader in the eyes of StarClan, so how could she be?
Her warriors, however, give her their support. At the RiverClan camp, after Leopardstar's return, she names Mistyfoot as deputy. Sandstorm gathers the ThunderClan cats, dreading the goodbye to Silverstream. The silver tabby is busy talking to her kits, who are now nearly through their apprenticeship. She approaches Sandstorm and Leopardstar, apologising to the latter, before asking Sandstorm if she could join ThunderClan. The two had grown very close over time. She would miss her kits, but they would be warriors soon, and she felt she couldn't be truly loyal to her birth clan if her heart was on the other side of the river. Sandstorm, being slightly clueless, doesn't quite get what this means. She accepts Silverstream's offer, to the amusement of Fireheart and Dustpelt.
The next day she goes to the Moonstone, fearing rejection from StarClan. She gets her nine lives though. From Redtail, Runningwind, Yellowfang, Swiftpaw, Crookedstar, Bluestar, Stonefur, Halftail, and Brindleface. She is named Sandstar.
Whitestorm is appointed deputy, and the BloodClan battle happens mostly like in-canon. The Clans win, but Whitestorm dies after the battle (instead of during).
Sandstar struggles between choosing Fireheart or Dustpelt as the next deputy. Both are two of her closest friends, and great warriors. She eventually decided to pick Dustpelt.
Soon after, she and Silverstream officially become mates.
okay if you read that far, good job! there's more to this, i tried to only detail important things, but ended up rambling as you can see.