StarClan's Fury

[Splashstar]

Prologue

After moons of an uneasy relationship with the Twolegs living so close to the forest, it finally happened: the Twolegs began destroying the forest. ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan were forced to flee from the forest they had lived in for moons and make a perilous journey to a new home.

Once they arrived in the new forest and drew out the territory lines, they decided to honor their journey by renaming their Clans in honor of the four directions: North, South, East, and West. They settled into an uneasy peace and began to flourish.

But in the clouds above, StarClan was angry at the earthbound cats. The names of their Clans were in honor of the four distinguished cats who founded the Clan system, and for the earthbounds to change their Clan names was the highest form of disrespect. StarClan feared that soon the Clans would forget where they came from, and maybe eventually in StarClan itself. StarClan sent multiple signs to each Clan, but they all went unrecognized.

And so StarClan began to take a more active role in earthbound life.

And so the legend begins...

Down on earth, the Clan system began falling apart. NorthClan and WestClan quarreled over the vegetable garden, a prey rich area that technically belonged to WestClan, but NorthClan claimed that it dipped into their territory so they had a right to part of it. EastClan, generally regarded as the weakest of the Clans, was frequently raided by a bullying SouthClan. NorthClan usually helped EastClan drive the intruders out, causing a strain between NorthClan and SouthClan. SouthClan then generally sided with WestClan over the territory dispute. And although EastClan and WestClan shared the most borders, they did not yet have a conflict with each other. Then terrible things began happening.

First, the leader of WestClan died and when the deputy went to receive his nine lives, he was refused. Then SouthClan was stricken by a bought of greencough and although their medicine cat had plenty of the cure available, many cats died. EastClan suffered a vicious attack by two rogue cats and finally, NorthClan was the victim of kitnapping. The Clans all believed this was just bad luck until the news was accidentally leaked at a Gathering, and panic began to ensue. How could so many bad things be happening? Did StarClan not care about them anymore?

Then, it began.

It began with several small fights between NorthClan and WestClan. These fights began as small skirmishes, but they soon began to escalate in violence. More and more cats were coming back to camp injured and bloody. Finally, a WestClan warrior was killed.

WestClan immediately pronounced NorthClan their ultimate enemy, and declared war. SouthClan, always ready to stick it to the busybody NorthClanners, instantly joined sides with WestClan. And EastClan, out of loyalty for every time NorthClan came to their aid, joined the fray as well.

Moons passed. The end of the fighting was nowhere in sight. EastClan merged with NorthClan, creating tension between the two leaders who both wanted to have the most control over their warriors. And WestClan and SouthClan remained separate, but this caused confusion and miscommunication between the two. The Clan system began to fall apart. Above, StarClan was dismayed. They had not meant for any of this to happen, and they knew that more drastic actions needed to be taken.

StarClan sent down four kits to the Clans: Thunderkit went to SouthClan, Riverkit went to a NorthClan queen, Windkit went to an EastClan queen, and Shadowkit went to WestClan. These four cats, born long after the conflict between the Clans began and named for the four original Clans, would bring about the salvation of the forest.

During their apprenticeship, each apprentice began receiving dreams telling them to go to the Mirrorpool on the occasion of their ninth moon. Despite it being very hard for an apprentice to sneak away from their Clan in the middle of the war, and the fact that the Mirrorpool is a very scary place to an apprentice, all four apprentices make it to the Mirrorpool on the same night. After the initial revulsion of meeting with cats of different Clans, they are struck by a sudden feeling of fatigue, and they all fall asleep and begin to dream.

Scatterstar, the voice of StarClan, spoke to the apprentices then, and what he told them amazed them. There used to be a world without fighting. Clans lived their own lives, without constant conflict. He spoke of peace, of occasional and friendly rivalries with others. He told them about love, about blood ties, and kinship. And he told them that they would be the ones to restore all of this to the forest. But for now, they would forget, because the time was not right and they needed time to live and grow.

Still more moons passed. And the four apprentices became warriors in their respective Clans. And one moon a NorthClan-EastClan patrol was attacked by SouthClan, and all four cats in the patrol were slaughtered. The young leader of NorthClan, Splashstar, was blinded by her fury and knew that the time had come.

She and the EastClan leader brought their cats to the Gathering Place, where WestClan and SouthClan were already waiting for them. Not many words were exchanged before the Clans tore into each other.

For a while it seemed like all hope was lost, and everything in the forest would die. Then, in the midst of the fighting, four warriors froze. Their eyes lit up with the light of StarClan and together they jumped onto the giant stump where Gatherings were once held. And as one voice, they called for peace.

The cats all froze and stared at the four cats from different Clans began to talk. Each cat spoke of the warrior code that was long forgotten, and the things Scatterstar had told them: love and loyalty, Clan bonds and friendship. They told the cats that this was not the way StarClan intended them to live. That they needed to go back to the old ways, the old Clans, and peace and harmony would be restored to the forest.

But there was still murder in the Clan cat's hearts. They did not want to listen to this message of peace. There were too many dead, too many families, lovers, siblings torn apart. The cats rained down on the four and when all was said and done, the four cats lay dead on the tree stump.

There was a sudden flash in the sky, and a bolt of lightning that split the tree stump in half. And again, the cats stopped their melee. And they saw the bodies of their four Clanmates that they had murdered. And they were ashamed at what they had done. Unsure of what to do, the four Clans retreated from the battle, stunned.

And that is StarClan's fury. The four Clans will need to be reestablished as the four original Clans: Thunder, Wind, River, and Shadow. EastClan and NorthClan will split. The four cats who sacrificed themselves will take their places among the ranks of StarClan. A new order will be found in the forest.

~Cats Needed~

Riverkit/Riverpaw/Riverstorm
Claimed by: NONE

Thunderkit/Thunderpaw/Thunderstrike
Claimed by: Splash

Shadowkit/Shadowpaw/Shadowstripe
Claimed by: Cat in tha Hat

Windkit/Windpaw/Windclaw
Claimed by: NONE

Scatterstar
Claimed by: Reserved