The ShadowFlame Chronicles1:The Spark (Chapter 1 out)
Jun 26, 2020 11:14:40 GMT -5
Katanaheart, 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛, and 4 more like this
Post by Brokenstar on Jun 26, 2020 11:14:40 GMT -5
The ShadowFlame Chronicles
Book 1: The Spark
(Chapter 1)
Please, post suggestions! I will likely take them into account.
Check this out! The ShadowFlame Chronicles Public Draft
Credits
Thanks to Resident Degenerate for a ton of the world building aspects and to
Thank you to Hawktalon, for inspiring this book. Without you, this wouldn't exist.
Info
ShadowFlame was, from birth, profecised to save the clans. Then, after an accident that resulted in the death of his brother and clanmate, he ran away to PineClan. As he struggles to start a new life in his clan, a strange ghost helps him to train.
Clans and territories:
FrostClan: This clan lives on the north face of a mountain. This is, when counting elevation, the largest territory. They are closest to the Mooncave. The mountain almorst always has some of the land cast in shadow, so the clan almost always hunts and patrols in the area in the sun. The mountain is often very snowy. The camp is half on the east side, half on th e west, and surrounded by an outward-facing ring of jagged rocks, with a hidden cave that leads to a tunnel as the entrance. The cats of this clan generally have wider and flatter paws, smaller (and more slitted) eyes, longer fur, and stronger back legs. FrostClan warriors are grey and/or white, with varying patterns.
StoneClan: This clan lives in a barren, rocky wasteland with few plants and prey connected to the northeast side of the mountain. This is the second largest territory, meaning that, throughout the whole area, there is just barely enough prey to survive in Coldtime. Colorpelt Territory borders the northeast and the north edges. The camp is toward the far northeast edge, almost to the Colorpelt Territory, and is a ring of outward-facing jagged rocks with a small, hidden hole that is easiest. StoneClan cats generally have narrower paws with more calloused pads, stronger bones, and skinny, lithe bodies or fat from storing food. Their pelts can be grey, pale brown, or ginger, with varying patterns.
PineClan: PineClan, as the name suggests, lives in a forest filled with pine trees, connected to the west edge of StoneClan territory, and the northeast edge of Frostclan's. This is the smallest of the Clan territories, but the amount of prey and lush herbs more than makes up for it. It is connected to the Colorpelt Territory on the north border. The camp is near Crystal Hollow, and is a shallow dip in the ground, and the entrance is a tunnel under a bramble bush. PineClan cats have large noses and eyes, short bristly fur, and hooked claws. They are medium to dark brown, very dark grey, and/or black, with varying patterns. They can also have white underbellies, spots, or primary colors beneath spots.
MoonClan: MoonClan is the collective group of the spirits of the dead Clan Cats. They live in a dangerless, prey-filled copy of the real territorys, and live throughout in a land without hunger or pain. They are worshipped by the living Clan Cats, and grant wisdom, knowledge and prophecies to the living Clan Cats who need it or seek it. They, unlike the living Clan Cats who don't have a certain spell cast upon them, can use magic, though living cats can learn it.
StarClan: They fell from the sky in giant ShineShells surrounded in balls of blazing light. Those ShineShells produced a lot of Colorpelts and Silvershells as well as a group of cats. These cats are owned by the Colorpelts, but are very roguelike in behaviour. They are ruthless killers and many have shiny and glowy parts on them. They call themselves a clan and stay around the ShineShells and MoonWall occasionally. They have no dicernable code, but they follow ome kind of rules.
Colorpelt Territory: This is a collection of Blackstone Paths, Whitestone Paths, some grass and normal trees, Metal Trees, Noleaf Trees, Glowtrees, and Colorpelt Camps, which are made from various colors of stone, wood, clearwall, and (usually) metal, and they vary in size. Colorpelts, Shineshells, and Silvershells live here, as well as many rogues and loners.
Beasts (To be explained in the book):
Base: Most of these are 8-10' tall, and all have a shriveled, shorter, permanently bent left arm with more limited maneuverability. Their heads are similar to a flattened cat head. The head is shaped like half of a human eye, with one triangle on each side of the top, bridged on the bottom of each by a slightly curved top of the head. They have no muzzle, no nose, no whiskers, no mouth, no eyes, just a large indent depending on the type where the muzzle and usually the eyes should be. They have smooth dark-ish grey skin all over their entire bodies. They can telepathically speak to all, and all understand what they say. The telepathic speaking can be targeted to specific individuals.
Hunter: Base (indent is where muzzle should be), the indent looks like the silhouette of a stone. These are the guardians of the mind. They are hostile to the living, hunting them for sport. Their powers include invisibility, generating a thick, black fog that drowns those engulfed in it, and "breaching" the mind, allowing them to predict the future, tell prophecies, enter and form dreams, and the ability to manipulate terrain and rock.
Warden: Base (indent covers entire facial area), indent looks like a simple drawing of a pine tree. These are protectors of the body. They are highly protective of the living, counteracting the Hunters. Their powers include the ability to generate a light as bright a the sun that dispels the Hunter's Fog, healing, knowledge of all hunters' whereabouts, and the ability to control, grow, and generate plants.
Curator: Base (except for a single eye on the forehead), wears a hooded robe made of opaque mist, indent covers entire facial area, indent looks like a basic snowflake. This is neutral with the living. These are the protectors and judges of the soul. It has the powers include shared control over the realms of the dead, the sorting of souls into either MoonClan or the Dark Forest, and the ability to generate wind. Cats that are about to die see one of them and their face, as they only lower their hoods to those who are dying or about to die, to welcome them to the afterlife.
Overseer: Base (except for being 12' tall), they resemble the curator, but they almost never lower their hood. The indents cover the entire facial area, from the chin to the top of the head. They have colorpelt-eye-shaped indents with slitted pupils, and sometimes, the indent opens to reveal an identical eye. These are neutral with the Clan cats. They are the leader of the Beasts. They have all of the powers of all of the others, but more powerful, and many more mysterious powers.
Book 1: The Spark
(Chapter 1)
Please, post suggestions! I will likely take them into account.
Check this out! The ShadowFlame Chronicles Public Draft
Credits
Thanks to Resident Degenerate for a ton of the world building aspects and to
Thank you to Hawktalon, for inspiring this book. Without you, this wouldn't exist.
Info
ShadowFlame was, from birth, profecised to save the clans. Then, after an accident that resulted in the death of his brother and clanmate, he ran away to PineClan. As he struggles to start a new life in his clan, a strange ghost helps him to train.
Clans and territories:
FrostClan: This clan lives on the north face of a mountain. This is, when counting elevation, the largest territory. They are closest to the Mooncave. The mountain almorst always has some of the land cast in shadow, so the clan almost always hunts and patrols in the area in the sun. The mountain is often very snowy. The camp is half on the east side, half on th e west, and surrounded by an outward-facing ring of jagged rocks, with a hidden cave that leads to a tunnel as the entrance. The cats of this clan generally have wider and flatter paws, smaller (and more slitted) eyes, longer fur, and stronger back legs. FrostClan warriors are grey and/or white, with varying patterns.
StoneClan: This clan lives in a barren, rocky wasteland with few plants and prey connected to the northeast side of the mountain. This is the second largest territory, meaning that, throughout the whole area, there is just barely enough prey to survive in Coldtime. Colorpelt Territory borders the northeast and the north edges. The camp is toward the far northeast edge, almost to the Colorpelt Territory, and is a ring of outward-facing jagged rocks with a small, hidden hole that is easiest. StoneClan cats generally have narrower paws with more calloused pads, stronger bones, and skinny, lithe bodies or fat from storing food. Their pelts can be grey, pale brown, or ginger, with varying patterns.
PineClan: PineClan, as the name suggests, lives in a forest filled with pine trees, connected to the west edge of StoneClan territory, and the northeast edge of Frostclan's. This is the smallest of the Clan territories, but the amount of prey and lush herbs more than makes up for it. It is connected to the Colorpelt Territory on the north border. The camp is near Crystal Hollow, and is a shallow dip in the ground, and the entrance is a tunnel under a bramble bush. PineClan cats have large noses and eyes, short bristly fur, and hooked claws. They are medium to dark brown, very dark grey, and/or black, with varying patterns. They can also have white underbellies, spots, or primary colors beneath spots.
MoonClan: MoonClan is the collective group of the spirits of the dead Clan Cats. They live in a dangerless, prey-filled copy of the real territorys, and live throughout in a land without hunger or pain. They are worshipped by the living Clan Cats, and grant wisdom, knowledge and prophecies to the living Clan Cats who need it or seek it. They, unlike the living Clan Cats who don't have a certain spell cast upon them, can use magic, though living cats can learn it.
StarClan: They fell from the sky in giant ShineShells surrounded in balls of blazing light. Those ShineShells produced a lot of Colorpelts and Silvershells as well as a group of cats. These cats are owned by the Colorpelts, but are very roguelike in behaviour. They are ruthless killers and many have shiny and glowy parts on them. They call themselves a clan and stay around the ShineShells and MoonWall occasionally. They have no dicernable code, but they follow ome kind of rules.
Colorpelt Territory: This is a collection of Blackstone Paths, Whitestone Paths, some grass and normal trees, Metal Trees, Noleaf Trees, Glowtrees, and Colorpelt Camps, which are made from various colors of stone, wood, clearwall, and (usually) metal, and they vary in size. Colorpelts, Shineshells, and Silvershells live here, as well as many rogues and loners.
Beasts (To be explained in the book):
Base: Most of these are 8-10' tall, and all have a shriveled, shorter, permanently bent left arm with more limited maneuverability. Their heads are similar to a flattened cat head. The head is shaped like half of a human eye, with one triangle on each side of the top, bridged on the bottom of each by a slightly curved top of the head. They have no muzzle, no nose, no whiskers, no mouth, no eyes, just a large indent depending on the type where the muzzle and usually the eyes should be. They have smooth dark-ish grey skin all over their entire bodies. They can telepathically speak to all, and all understand what they say. The telepathic speaking can be targeted to specific individuals.
Hunter: Base (indent is where muzzle should be), the indent looks like the silhouette of a stone. These are the guardians of the mind. They are hostile to the living, hunting them for sport. Their powers include invisibility, generating a thick, black fog that drowns those engulfed in it, and "breaching" the mind, allowing them to predict the future, tell prophecies, enter and form dreams, and the ability to manipulate terrain and rock.
Warden: Base (indent covers entire facial area), indent looks like a simple drawing of a pine tree. These are protectors of the body. They are highly protective of the living, counteracting the Hunters. Their powers include the ability to generate a light as bright a the sun that dispels the Hunter's Fog, healing, knowledge of all hunters' whereabouts, and the ability to control, grow, and generate plants.
Curator: Base (except for a single eye on the forehead), wears a hooded robe made of opaque mist, indent covers entire facial area, indent looks like a basic snowflake. This is neutral with the living. These are the protectors and judges of the soul. It has the powers include shared control over the realms of the dead, the sorting of souls into either MoonClan or the Dark Forest, and the ability to generate wind. Cats that are about to die see one of them and their face, as they only lower their hoods to those who are dying or about to die, to welcome them to the afterlife.
Overseer: Base (except for being 12' tall), they resemble the curator, but they almost never lower their hood. The indents cover the entire facial area, from the chin to the top of the head. They have colorpelt-eye-shaped indents with slitted pupils, and sometimes, the indent opens to reveal an identical eye. These are neutral with the Clan cats. They are the leader of the Beasts. They have all of the powers of all of the others, but more powerful, and many more mysterious powers.
Overview
And thus, our story begins.
Prologue
“The devastation of Darkness
Shall be left to one.
When darkness engulfs all,
Let the shadows be our sun.”
“Dark will rise,
Using the night,
And alongside the shadows and the flowers,
The stars will shine bright.”
“One and a half,
Tragedy will follow.
Double threat,
Bringing sorrow.”
And thus, our story begins.
Prologue
MeadowStream looked up, a sharp, jagged rock clenched in her teeth, taking note that it was JayStar’s Moon, a ClawMoon after HalfMoon, a ClawMoon before full moon. Then, the old StoneClan Medicine Cat looked down at another stone at her paws, the size of a cat’s head and cuboidal.
MeadowStream then used the jagged rock in her teeth to etch in a few symbols in the middle of the squarish stone, one meaning start, beginning, and birth all in one hieroglyph, another meaning date, and the final one meaning JayStar’s Moon. She left some room at the top.
It was quiet in StoneClan Camp that Sprouttime night, and it hadn’t rained in three days, so it was very dry.
It was also the night that new life would join StoneClan. That was why she was etching on the rock. She was simply recording the date of the new litter’s birth. Briefly, MeadowStream wondered if one of the kits was going to take an interest in the art of medication. She was getting too old to be a medicine cat; nearly 140 moons! She also wanted to spend her last moons with a mate, finally...
She shook the thought away. She had a duty at the moment, and plus, all kits nowadays are brainwashed to think that fighting is the only way. She strode past a nervous NightingaleWing, the father of the kits, who was pacing outside of the nursery entrance. She nodded her encouragement to him, a gesture saying it was going to be alright.
She entered the stone nursery, bringing one of the rare StoneClan sticks for DewLeaf, the jagged rock, and the square rock with her. Immediatly she saw DewLeaf in the center nest, her swollen stomach taking up almost the entire nest. Her nest has obviously the softest, the rocks perfectly smooth, lined with vulture feathers, with soft sand as the bottom layer. She already had a stick in her jaws, but it was splintering. Dewleaf’s eyes were watering from the pain of giving birth.
“It’s alright, you’re going to be fine.”, MeadowStream soothed.
DewLeaf then clenched her teeth so hard that the stick in her jaws snapped completely in half.
“The first kit’s coming!”, she yowled, mostly to NightingaleWing. After a lot of pushing, the first kit, a brown tabby tom with a white underbelly, was born. MeadowStream immediately cried out, “It’s a tom!” and began to lick its fur backward.
Soon, the second kit, a black tom with ginger stripes and a couple pale ginger spots, was born. “He looks like shadows surrounding a flame”, said MeadowStream quietly.
Suddenly, she was surrounded in pure darkness. Then, flat, light grey figures began to unfold, pausing when only two were showing. One looked like a cat with evil pure white eyes, crouching, waiting to pounce. The other one was straight ahead of MeadowStream, unlike the first. This one looked like it was sitting, looking up to the sky with sad, pure white eyes, as though both grieving and praying at the same time.
Suddenly, a voice spoke. MeadowStream immediately recognized the voice of CrystalHeart, a friend of hers who had died in a battle, long ago. CrystalHeart often gave MeadowStream the prophecies, but it still hasn’t eliminated the grief, so hearing CrystalHeart’s voice brought tears to MeadowStream’s eyes.
The grieving cat began to shine brighter and brighter, the light drowning out the first cat.
“The devastation of Darkness
Shall be left to one.
When darkness engulfs all,
Let the shadows be our sun.”
Suddenly, the light ceased, but the first cat was still gone. Then, copies of the first cat began to fold out of the grieving cat, until MeadowStream was completely surrounded. The moon had also risen, and tendrils of beautiful ginger and white flowers began to wrap around the grieving cat, but it didn’t look parasitic. As the next portion of the prophecy was told, the stars grew brighter and brighter.
“Dark will rise,
Using the night,
And alongside the shadows and the flowers,
The stars will shine bright.”
The star’s light grew and grew until the copies of the first cat were completely gone. Then, the stars disappeared, as did the moon. There were no more copies of the first cat, at least until two copies appeared. The strange part was, one copy was half red.
“One and a half,
Tragedy will follow.
Double threat,
Bringing sorrow.”
Suddenly, MeadowStream woke from the vision, still standing, eyes still open. The vision had only lasted a couple of seconds. MeadowStream stumbled. NightingaleWing glanced up from the kit he was licking.
“You ‘kay?”, asked NightingaleWing, voice muffled from licking the mostly black tom, eyes still nervous.
CRACK!
The second branch that MeadowStream had given DewLeaf had snapped. “The last one is coming!”, cried MeadowStream.
The final kit was a sickly-looking silver tabby she-cat. Though DewLeaf was obviously worn out, she began to lick the silver one.
“Now, I know it has been a long night, but, according to tradition, you must name the kits before the night is over.”
DewLeaf said, as though being compelled, “The black one. That one’s name is ShadowKit.”
“Okay. I love the name! How about the brown one is… PineKit?”, suggested NightengaleWing, as the firstborn immediately scurried, strangely full of energy for a newborn, towards DewLeaf, pushing moss on top of the silver tabby.
DewLeaf nodded weakly, gazing lovingly at the three kits who had nosed their ways to her stomach to suckle.
The last kit, the tiny sickly silver she-kit, was getting tangled in the moss, a scarcity in StoneClan. They just stared at it, purring, until MeadowStream meowed, “How about MossKit for the last one?”.
DewLeaf, by then looking as if she was about to pass out, nodded.
Then, she did pass out.
MeadowStream took the sharp rock in her teeth and etched three symbols on the top of the squarish rock: First, a simplistic pine tree for PineKit all the way to the right.. Then, a simple bundle of moss for MossKit all the way to the left. Finally, she drew the grieving silhouette from the dream in the middle for ShadowKit.
ShadowKit.
“Let the Shadows be our Sun.”
MeadowStream had just helped deliver and name three kits, but behind the mask of half-genuine happiness, MeadowStream felt foreboding.
Darkness was coming.
Just 2 days prior, a couple days after he turned 12 moons old, his mentor, Meadowstream, had died. He must now take the mantle of medicine cat, which he had always wanted, but at the moment, he didn’t feel like he deserved it. If he was a true medicine cat, he would have been able to save his mentor.
He hadn’t been able to. Of course, he shouldn’t have been blaming himself; His mentor was 150 moons old. She had to die eventually. Yet he still blamed himself.
So there he sat, at his mentor’s gravestone, head bowed.
He layed a single flower on the grave. A Blue Foxtail, her favorite flower. It drew his eyes with the promise of sweet flavor and memories. It was a bright, yet deep, blue. There were two layers of petals; the inner one was shaped like a thin tube, slowly growing wider and wider as it went closer to the base. His eyes traced the second layer, which was shaped like a thick raindrop with the top cut off, similar to a tulip’s shape. All of the petals curved. All in all, it looked like a fox's tail. It had no known medical uses, which made it strange to Shadowflame that Meadowstream loved it so much, but it tasted very sweet, which was probably part of the reason. “Please forgive me, as I can’t forgive myself.” he muttered, sending his quiet prayer up to Meadowstream.
He was slightly surprised that in his life of a healer, death stalked him; His sister had died after 2 weeks. His dad had died of Greencough. Why can’t the people I love stay alive, he thought, when he should have been thinking, At least I still have my brother, my mom, and my clan.
He was so busy feeling sorry for himself and praying for forgiveness that he didn’t notice his brother, Pinefrost had approached him. “Hey, Shadowflame.”, he said, voice and icy blue eyes filled with compassion. Shadowflame jumped and whirled around, his green eye and amber eye both filled with surprise, then his face softened. “Hi, Pinefrost.”, he said, voice choking with sadness.
Pinefrost used his main trick: he told some jokes. “Sooo… I’m going out on patrol,”, he began, “So please, be prepared to remember all of your lessons. You might need them.” This earned a hint of a smile from Shadowflame, as he found the exaggeration a bit funny. “You never know, I might step on a thorn.”, continued Pinefrost. This caused a smile and a chuckle to issue from Shadowflame.
“That was one time, 4 moons ago! And I didn’t know that mom was right behind me!” , said Shadowflame, chuckling, remembering that day when he was only 8 moons, when he was trying to carefully remove a thorn in Pinefrost’s pad and had gotten startled by his mom. He had accidentally yanked out the thorn much too quickly and messily.
“I still have the scar from the horrid experience!”, said Pinefrost dramatically, trying to suppress a smile. Sure enough, there was a scar.
Shadowflame felt terribly guilty for a moment, and stopped laughing and smiling. “Oh, wow, I had no ide- Hey, wait a minute!”, cried Shadowflame. He continued his chuckling once he had his revelation. In fact, he was laughing harder. “That’s just a clever use of mud!”
It was true, Pinefrost had just used mud to make it look like he had a jagged scar.
“But in all seriousness, I am about to go on a patrol. See you later!”, bid Pinefrost farewell. Though, even as he was leaving and joining the waiting patrol (Who couldn’t ever be annoyed at him, except for Longtalon, a tall she-cat with long legs and claws, who has a pale but dull brown pelt with brown stripes, as well as glimmering blue eyes, and the kind of cat who was too serious to accept anything lighthearted), he had the effect he wanted on Shadowflame. Shadowflame walked contentedly to the Medicine Cat’s Den - his den - and began to sort the herbs, and as he sorted herbs, he recited to himself of which herb did what. It was easier to remind himself of what to do if he wasn’t panicking, which he is prone to.
Pinefrost was on his patrol, telling a joke, around the border between Pineclan and Stoneclan, which was the only creek in Stoneclan. On both sides of it were steep slopes, which never had plants growing on them, instead just dirt. Nearby, though, there were lot’s of berries of all different sorts. It had recently rained, so the sides were very slick and muddy that day, and the creek was a bit swollen. They called the creek, “Father’s Creek”, as a father had once, long ago, been murdered by their son there. The names of these cats were long forgotten, though the tale remains.
Pinefrost was saying, with Longtalon trailing behind, looking very angry at Pinefrost, with the rest of the patrol laughing and liking him (Despite only having become a warrior a few days prior, he had become rather popular with everybody except Longtalon, even the senior warriors), “So then I said to Longtalon…” But they never got to hear the end of the story, as at that moment, he had spotted a Pineclan tom, who was grey with black stripes and had blue eyes on Stoneclan territory, with a piece of prey dangling in their jaws. Back on Pineclan territory, there was a dark brown she-cat with the same blue eyes and black markings, urging them to hurry up, but looking and sounding more mischievous and arrogant than worried.
Stoneclan is very protective of their prey, as they don’t have much of it. While they are okay with stealing prey from other clans, they are very, very protective of their own. It is a clash of their morals and values, for on one side of their tradition, there is the Warrior Code, which states no stealing from other clans, and on the other side is the tradition of stealing, which may be the only way they have been able to survive up until that point.
“Hey! You!”, called out Pinefrost fiercely, dashing to the muddy hill and facing the Pineclan warrior, right in front of them, as the grey held his ground bold as brass. Now, the Pineclan warrior, snarling, stood his ground arrogantly.
Pinefrost began to step forward. “Why, you have no right to-!”, snarled out Pinefrost, who got cut off, as he then slipped and went rolling down the hill, getting coated in mud. He ran into the Pineclan warrior, and they began rolling together, on top of eachother. The Pineclan warrior was on the bottom with all of Pinefrost’s weight on top of him, when they passed over a rock. There was a loud crack! as their head smacked against the rock. Their grip slackened as they slipped into unconsciousness.
They tumbled down into the creek before Pinefrost could get away. Pinefrost, being in Stoneclan, and covered in bruises, but luckily not knocked out, wasn’t a good swimmer. He got slammed into and held against a fallen tree submerged in the creek by the incredible current. He tried feebly but couldn’t swim off of it until it was too late. He had only been able to escape from panic from lack of air, and passed out just after freeing himself. The water filled with blood from the Pineclan cat’s head injury during this, but Pinefrost was too panicked to save them.
He had already inhaled some water after passing out when he had been hauled out of the water by the rest of the patrol. They hadn’t been able to rescue him while he was in the water, as they too were Stoneclan cats and so couldn’t swim.
The Pineclan she-cat had taken a while to rescue her clanmate, as they were still trapped down there and the current was still very strong, and the creek slowly turned more and more red. When she finally got him out she whispered, “He’s dead.”, then shouted to the other patrol full of rage, “He’s dead! You killed my brother! You killed Shadestripes!”
Meanwhile, the Stoneclan patrol sent their fastest cat, Winddash, to send a message to Shadowflame, urgently.
Shadowflame was in his den, still sorting herbs. He was almost to the berries (Yew and Juniper), which he needed the most practice with, when Winddash burst in. He could see plain as day that winddash was panicking, so he immediately stood up and said, “What is it?”
Winddash panted, “It’s… Pinefrost… He… Needs help…”.
“Show me where!”, cried Shadowflame, his voice laden with panic.
Winddash was a very fast runner, but even he could not compete with a panicked Shadowflame. Shadowflame wasn’t usually very fast, or even strong, but with adrenaline, he practically had super powers. The only issue was he tended to be forgetful when panicking. He could have easily outrun Winddash, but instead he stayed by Winddash’s side, not knowing where Pinefrost was.
Shadowflame stopped by his brother’s side and listened to his breathing. It was still there, but it was faint and shallow. “He needs medical treatment quickly.”, muttered Shadowflame, mostly to himself. He tried remembering the right herbs for drowning, but all he could remember was that it was berries. He looked over to some nearby berry bushes and thought, Red or purple? Yew or juniper?
In his panic, he decided it was yew, and he dashed over to it and plucked a few berries. He made an unconscious Pinefrost chew and swallow the berries. Then, as he calmed down a bit, he realized something. Yew is the killing herb. He sat down, filled with grieving disbelief. I failed, on my first major assignment.
Out loud, he whispered, “I failed. I killed him.”, a blank look on his face. He laid down and nuzzled Pinefrost’s still-warm corpse, deep into his fur, as the patrol sat around them, dumbstruck.
The clan was sitting vigil for Pinefrost that night. The leader was announcing to the clan, grieving for Pinefrost, “Pinefrost was only 12 moons old, a fresh warrior, when he was taken from us. Pinefrost died a loyal warrior, battling off Pineclan thieves. He quickly took to popularity among the warriors, with his lightheartedness and jokes. Though, his name was frost, he warmed us all with this. Too many have been taken from us this past moon. Let us grieve for him, under the moon, under our spirits which he is now joining.”
Shadowflame sat, head bowed lower than everyone else's, eyes filled with sadness. Not only was he grieving, but he couldn’t forgive himself, and thought that nobody else could, either. He understood, and felt he deserved it, but he couldn’t handle being under all of those supposedly hating eyes of his old clanmates, the ones whom he had failed as the most important cat in the clan.
He couldn’t handle it, so he ran away. He slouched away when no one was looking. Into the night he ran. First he ran for the Frostclan border, not being able to bear going to the spot where Pinefrost had died.
As soon as he crossed the border, he was spotted by a skinny, worried-looking patrol of Frostclan cats. “Hey! What are you doing here?”, called a large, muscular pure-white tom with bright blue eyes. Soon, the patrol took to chasing poor Shadowflame, who barely even bothered to run. He had just sat there, waiting for the patrol to reach him. They would have, if his instincts hadn’t kicked in.
But instead of running back to Stoneclan, he ran towards the Pineclan border. At the Pineclan border, the patrol dropped the chase, though they had left Shadowflame with many scratches to remember them by.
Soon, Shadowflame was stumbling around in the heart of Pineclan, tripping over undergrowth, getting scraped by thorns, bleeding…
It was almost dawn by the time he ran into a patrol that was just leaving. “Wha- What are you doing here?!”, cried a black tom with green eyes and grey ears and muzzle, confused to see a random Stoneclan medicine cat (by the smell) with a strange color pattern, stumbling around in the dark, late at night, in the heart of Pineclan territory, covered in scratches and blood.
“P-please… Have mercy…”, Shadowflame managed to say before passing out from exhaustion and blood loss.
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Format:
Chapter 1
Shadowflame was mourning.Just 2 days prior, a couple days after he turned 12 moons old, his mentor, Meadowstream, had died. He must now take the mantle of medicine cat, which he had always wanted, but at the moment, he didn’t feel like he deserved it. If he was a true medicine cat, he would have been able to save his mentor.
He hadn’t been able to. Of course, he shouldn’t have been blaming himself; His mentor was 150 moons old. She had to die eventually. Yet he still blamed himself.
So there he sat, at his mentor’s gravestone, head bowed.
He layed a single flower on the grave. A Blue Foxtail, her favorite flower. It drew his eyes with the promise of sweet flavor and memories. It was a bright, yet deep, blue. There were two layers of petals; the inner one was shaped like a thin tube, slowly growing wider and wider as it went closer to the base. His eyes traced the second layer, which was shaped like a thick raindrop with the top cut off, similar to a tulip’s shape. All of the petals curved. All in all, it looked like a fox's tail. It had no known medical uses, which made it strange to Shadowflame that Meadowstream loved it so much, but it tasted very sweet, which was probably part of the reason. “Please forgive me, as I can’t forgive myself.” he muttered, sending his quiet prayer up to Meadowstream.
He was slightly surprised that in his life of a healer, death stalked him; His sister had died after 2 weeks. His dad had died of Greencough. Why can’t the people I love stay alive, he thought, when he should have been thinking, At least I still have my brother, my mom, and my clan.
He was so busy feeling sorry for himself and praying for forgiveness that he didn’t notice his brother, Pinefrost had approached him. “Hey, Shadowflame.”, he said, voice and icy blue eyes filled with compassion. Shadowflame jumped and whirled around, his green eye and amber eye both filled with surprise, then his face softened. “Hi, Pinefrost.”, he said, voice choking with sadness.
Pinefrost used his main trick: he told some jokes. “Sooo… I’m going out on patrol,”, he began, “So please, be prepared to remember all of your lessons. You might need them.” This earned a hint of a smile from Shadowflame, as he found the exaggeration a bit funny. “You never know, I might step on a thorn.”, continued Pinefrost. This caused a smile and a chuckle to issue from Shadowflame.
“That was one time, 4 moons ago! And I didn’t know that mom was right behind me!” , said Shadowflame, chuckling, remembering that day when he was only 8 moons, when he was trying to carefully remove a thorn in Pinefrost’s pad and had gotten startled by his mom. He had accidentally yanked out the thorn much too quickly and messily.
“I still have the scar from the horrid experience!”, said Pinefrost dramatically, trying to suppress a smile. Sure enough, there was a scar.
Shadowflame felt terribly guilty for a moment, and stopped laughing and smiling. “Oh, wow, I had no ide- Hey, wait a minute!”, cried Shadowflame. He continued his chuckling once he had his revelation. In fact, he was laughing harder. “That’s just a clever use of mud!”
It was true, Pinefrost had just used mud to make it look like he had a jagged scar.
“But in all seriousness, I am about to go on a patrol. See you later!”, bid Pinefrost farewell. Though, even as he was leaving and joining the waiting patrol (Who couldn’t ever be annoyed at him, except for Longtalon, a tall she-cat with long legs and claws, who has a pale but dull brown pelt with brown stripes, as well as glimmering blue eyes, and the kind of cat who was too serious to accept anything lighthearted), he had the effect he wanted on Shadowflame. Shadowflame walked contentedly to the Medicine Cat’s Den - his den - and began to sort the herbs, and as he sorted herbs, he recited to himself of which herb did what. It was easier to remind himself of what to do if he wasn’t panicking, which he is prone to.
Pinefrost was on his patrol, telling a joke, around the border between Pineclan and Stoneclan, which was the only creek in Stoneclan. On both sides of it were steep slopes, which never had plants growing on them, instead just dirt. Nearby, though, there were lot’s of berries of all different sorts. It had recently rained, so the sides were very slick and muddy that day, and the creek was a bit swollen. They called the creek, “Father’s Creek”, as a father had once, long ago, been murdered by their son there. The names of these cats were long forgotten, though the tale remains.
Pinefrost was saying, with Longtalon trailing behind, looking very angry at Pinefrost, with the rest of the patrol laughing and liking him (Despite only having become a warrior a few days prior, he had become rather popular with everybody except Longtalon, even the senior warriors), “So then I said to Longtalon…” But they never got to hear the end of the story, as at that moment, he had spotted a Pineclan tom, who was grey with black stripes and had blue eyes on Stoneclan territory, with a piece of prey dangling in their jaws. Back on Pineclan territory, there was a dark brown she-cat with the same blue eyes and black markings, urging them to hurry up, but looking and sounding more mischievous and arrogant than worried.
Stoneclan is very protective of their prey, as they don’t have much of it. While they are okay with stealing prey from other clans, they are very, very protective of their own. It is a clash of their morals and values, for on one side of their tradition, there is the Warrior Code, which states no stealing from other clans, and on the other side is the tradition of stealing, which may be the only way they have been able to survive up until that point.
“Hey! You!”, called out Pinefrost fiercely, dashing to the muddy hill and facing the Pineclan warrior, right in front of them, as the grey held his ground bold as brass. Now, the Pineclan warrior, snarling, stood his ground arrogantly.
Pinefrost began to step forward. “Why, you have no right to-!”, snarled out Pinefrost, who got cut off, as he then slipped and went rolling down the hill, getting coated in mud. He ran into the Pineclan warrior, and they began rolling together, on top of eachother. The Pineclan warrior was on the bottom with all of Pinefrost’s weight on top of him, when they passed over a rock. There was a loud crack! as their head smacked against the rock. Their grip slackened as they slipped into unconsciousness.
They tumbled down into the creek before Pinefrost could get away. Pinefrost, being in Stoneclan, and covered in bruises, but luckily not knocked out, wasn’t a good swimmer. He got slammed into and held against a fallen tree submerged in the creek by the incredible current. He tried feebly but couldn’t swim off of it until it was too late. He had only been able to escape from panic from lack of air, and passed out just after freeing himself. The water filled with blood from the Pineclan cat’s head injury during this, but Pinefrost was too panicked to save them.
He had already inhaled some water after passing out when he had been hauled out of the water by the rest of the patrol. They hadn’t been able to rescue him while he was in the water, as they too were Stoneclan cats and so couldn’t swim.
The Pineclan she-cat had taken a while to rescue her clanmate, as they were still trapped down there and the current was still very strong, and the creek slowly turned more and more red. When she finally got him out she whispered, “He’s dead.”, then shouted to the other patrol full of rage, “He’s dead! You killed my brother! You killed Shadestripes!”
Meanwhile, the Stoneclan patrol sent their fastest cat, Winddash, to send a message to Shadowflame, urgently.
Shadowflame was in his den, still sorting herbs. He was almost to the berries (Yew and Juniper), which he needed the most practice with, when Winddash burst in. He could see plain as day that winddash was panicking, so he immediately stood up and said, “What is it?”
Winddash panted, “It’s… Pinefrost… He… Needs help…”.
“Show me where!”, cried Shadowflame, his voice laden with panic.
Winddash was a very fast runner, but even he could not compete with a panicked Shadowflame. Shadowflame wasn’t usually very fast, or even strong, but with adrenaline, he practically had super powers. The only issue was he tended to be forgetful when panicking. He could have easily outrun Winddash, but instead he stayed by Winddash’s side, not knowing where Pinefrost was.
Shadowflame stopped by his brother’s side and listened to his breathing. It was still there, but it was faint and shallow. “He needs medical treatment quickly.”, muttered Shadowflame, mostly to himself. He tried remembering the right herbs for drowning, but all he could remember was that it was berries. He looked over to some nearby berry bushes and thought, Red or purple? Yew or juniper?
In his panic, he decided it was yew, and he dashed over to it and plucked a few berries. He made an unconscious Pinefrost chew and swallow the berries. Then, as he calmed down a bit, he realized something. Yew is the killing herb. He sat down, filled with grieving disbelief. I failed, on my first major assignment.
Out loud, he whispered, “I failed. I killed him.”, a blank look on his face. He laid down and nuzzled Pinefrost’s still-warm corpse, deep into his fur, as the patrol sat around them, dumbstruck.
The clan was sitting vigil for Pinefrost that night. The leader was announcing to the clan, grieving for Pinefrost, “Pinefrost was only 12 moons old, a fresh warrior, when he was taken from us. Pinefrost died a loyal warrior, battling off Pineclan thieves. He quickly took to popularity among the warriors, with his lightheartedness and jokes. Though, his name was frost, he warmed us all with this. Too many have been taken from us this past moon. Let us grieve for him, under the moon, under our spirits which he is now joining.”
Shadowflame sat, head bowed lower than everyone else's, eyes filled with sadness. Not only was he grieving, but he couldn’t forgive himself, and thought that nobody else could, either. He understood, and felt he deserved it, but he couldn’t handle being under all of those supposedly hating eyes of his old clanmates, the ones whom he had failed as the most important cat in the clan.
He couldn’t handle it, so he ran away. He slouched away when no one was looking. Into the night he ran. First he ran for the Frostclan border, not being able to bear going to the spot where Pinefrost had died.
As soon as he crossed the border, he was spotted by a skinny, worried-looking patrol of Frostclan cats. “Hey! What are you doing here?”, called a large, muscular pure-white tom with bright blue eyes. Soon, the patrol took to chasing poor Shadowflame, who barely even bothered to run. He had just sat there, waiting for the patrol to reach him. They would have, if his instincts hadn’t kicked in.
But instead of running back to Stoneclan, he ran towards the Pineclan border. At the Pineclan border, the patrol dropped the chase, though they had left Shadowflame with many scratches to remember them by.
Soon, Shadowflame was stumbling around in the heart of Pineclan, tripping over undergrowth, getting scraped by thorns, bleeding…
It was almost dawn by the time he ran into a patrol that was just leaving. “Wha- What are you doing here?!”, cried a black tom with green eyes and grey ears and muzzle, confused to see a random Stoneclan medicine cat (by the smell) with a strange color pattern, stumbling around in the dark, late at night, in the heart of Pineclan territory, covered in scratches and blood.
“P-please… Have mercy…”, Shadowflame managed to say before passing out from exhaustion and blood loss.
Characters:
Format:
Name: Description
Previous names*, last appearance
(If dead, name will be crossed out)
(Listed in order of appearance)
Shadowflame: Black kit (tom) with ginger stripes and spots, as well as pale ginger spots and one green eye, one orange.
(Shadowkit, prologue) Chapter 1
Raccoonmuzzle: Black tom with grey muzzle and ears and dark green eyes
Chapter 1
Hailstorm: Large white tom with bright blue eyes
Chapter 1
Rainstar: A light grey she-cat flecked with blue-gray, especially around the muzzle, and grass green eyes.v
Chapter 1
Pinefrost: Dark brown tabby tom with a white underbelly and icy blue eyes
(Pinekit, prologue) Chapter 1
Winddash: A very fast ginger tom with darker stripes and green eyes
Chapter 1
Blackstreaks: A dark brown she-cat with black markings and blue eyes
Chapter 1
Shadestripes: A dark grey tom with black markings and blue eyes
Chapter 1
Longtalon: A tall she-cat with a pale but dull brown pelt with brown stripes, glimmering blue eyes, and long claws
Chapter 1
Meadowstream: An old cream tabby she-cat with a whitening muzzle with icy blue eyes
Prologue
Nightengalewing: A pale brown tom with a white underbelly and tail tip, as well as amber eyes
Prologue
Dewleaf: A blue-grey she-cat wit h green eyes
Prologue
Mosskit: Blue gray sickly looking kit ( She-cat)
Prologue
* Only previous names that they have appeared by
Previous names*, last appearance
(If dead, name will be crossed out)
(Listed in order of appearance)
Shadowflame: Black kit (tom) with ginger stripes and spots, as well as pale ginger spots and one green eye, one orange.
(Shadowkit, prologue) Chapter 1
Raccoonmuzzle: Black tom with grey muzzle and ears and dark green eyes
Chapter 1
Hailstorm: Large white tom with bright blue eyes
Chapter 1
Rainstar: A light grey she-cat flecked with blue-gray, especially around the muzzle, and grass green eyes.v
Chapter 1
Pinefrost
(Pinekit, prologue) Chapter 1
Winddash: A very fast ginger tom with darker stripes and green eyes
Chapter 1
Blackstreaks: A dark brown she-cat with black markings and blue eyes
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Longtalon: A tall she-cat with a pale but dull brown pelt with brown stripes, glimmering blue eyes, and long claws
Chapter 1
Meadowstream
Prologue
Prologue
Dewleaf: A blue-grey she-cat wit h green eyes
Prologue
Mosskit
Prologue
* Only previous names that they have appeared by