Forgotten Memories

[warblersong]

I had a fanfiction idea that was supposed to take place way after this last series, but I wasn't sure if anyone would like it so I think I'll write it here and see what you all think. i'm asking nicely, please leave comments on it so I can be better at writing. Thanks.

Allegiances

T H U N D E R C L A N

LeaderWolfstar- Dusty grey tom with a white belly

Deputy
Darktail- Massive White tom with distinct black tail
Apprentice-Lightpaw

Medicine cat
sedgewing- brown she-cat with blue eyes

Warriors
Breezewhisker- black and gray she-cat
Pinetail- brown tom with a white marking on his chest
Squirreltuft- long furred tortiseshell she-cat
apprentice-yellowpaw
Echosong- White and cream tom with failing hearing

Apprentices
Lightpaw- white and pale-ginger she cat. formerly a rouge
yellowpaw- golden tabby tom with small yellow eyes

Queens
Sunblossom- fiery red she-cat. (kits: Dawnkit-dark ginger shecat, Amberkit- long haired ginger with brown eyes, Snowkit- brown she-cat with a touch of orange on her shoulders, chest, ears, and paws, and Owlkit- grey and white tom)

elders
n/a


R I V E R C L A N

Leader
Stonestar - deep grey tom

deputy
Sunbranch - pale golden tabby tom

medicine cat
hawkdust - small tawney brown she-cat

warriors
Owlflower - brown and cream she-cat with blue eyes
apprentice - Shiningpaw
Wildtooth - black spotted white tom
apprentice - Foxpaw
Swanfire - pure white she-cat with amber eyes
Shadegaze - night-black tom with bright blue eyes

apprentices
foxpaw - russet she-cat
Shiningpaw - pale yellow tom

Queens
n/a

elders
blazeneetle - young tortiseshell tom

S H A D O W C L A N

leader
Poppystar - grey she-cat with darker patches

deputy
Oaktear - deep brown tom with long claws

medicine cat
Larkstare - large black and while tom

warriors
Ravenwing - black she-cat with white markings on her shoulders
Firebush - tortiseshell she-cat with blue eyes
Sorrelfang - dusty brown tom
apprentice - Brackenpaw
Brightstream - lithe long haired silver tabby
Gorseheart - pale brown tom with black spots

apprentices
Brackenpaw - grey and brown she-cat

Queens
Harestalker - unnaturally small white she-cat (kits: Mousekit - grey tom, Ripplekit - tiny white she-cat with grey patches)

elders
weaselstripe - thin brown tom
Embercloud - long furred russet she cat


W I N D C L A N

leader
Berrystar - long legged white tom

Deputy
Flamepelt - ginger/brown tabby tom

medicine cat
Mintfoot - grey brown she-cat

warriors
Yellowmist - deep black she-cat with pale amber eyes
Longfur - long furred brown tom
Birchear grey-brown she-cat

queens
n/a

elders
Dusktail - bluky, solid brown tom with distinct black tail.

[warblersong]

Prolog

Silverpelt stretched across the night sky, unbroken by cloud or rain or moon. Its light was clear and bright as all of Starclan gathered. Below them lay the lake where the clans had lived for so many seasons. The great, starry warriors stopped, their eyes resting on the territory closest to the Moonpool: Thunderclan.

Within the trees, stripped of green and coated with a leaf-bare frost, a small clan waited in the clearing. A yowl of pain erupted from within. A she-cat was giving birth in the coldest night of leaf bare. Her sides heaved and rippled with effort and pain. And all the clan waited to know the outcome of her kitting knowing there was nothing that could be done to ease her suffering or promise a safe delivery. The medicine cat, a tender-hearted cat, did all he could, but the frigid air had all but robbed her of most of her supply of herbs.

“Bluestar,” A powerful white tom said averting his gaze from the sight, but there was nothing he could do to block out the queen’s cries. “Why must we come here to watch this? Why must we all come to watch this?” He gestured his tail to the great gathering of cats that surrounded him. “I’ve watched enough suffering befall the clans from illness, fire, ice, twolegs, drought, flood, and countless others. Why do you will us to watch this as well?” Another howl split the air like a claw through a leaf.

“It wasn’t my decision to come,” The blue-grey she-cat he had addressed answered. Her pelt fluffed as if to ward away the icy sting of the air, but all was warm in the ranks of Starclan. It was below where warriors and kits were freezing to death. Pressed beside her stood her mate, his tail wrapped around hers. “I only followed when I was told. We all did.”

“Starclan hasn’t gathered like this in such a long time,” A handsome ginger tom noted, “not since the battle against the Dark Forest. Many, many seasons have passed since then. What could have been so powerful to call us together?”

“Who else?” The cracked voice of an old cat answered. The ranks of starclan parted to reveal an old and ugly cat. His fur had all but been removed and his sightless eyes bulged from his head like small bird’s eggs. His claws, long from lack of use, scraped against the ground at uneven angles. Yet he strode confidently through the mass of gathered cats. “Who else, Firestar, but I, Rock”

Firestar dipped his head to the ancient cat, a leader humbled before one so wise like a kit before an elder. Many others repeated his actions, others crouching as though they were apprentices being scolded by their mentors, “We should have expected as much. If you’re here then something important has to be happening.”

“Something important is happening. Something very important indeed.” He stopped and angled his head to look down on the Thunderclan camp. Below the kitting had progressed and four small bundles lay in the snow. Several cats licked frantically to try to keep them warm. “Those four are the ones we have been waiting for.”

All of Starclan looked to the kits. They were incredibly small, a fifth and final one tumbling out to be smaller than all the others. The medicine cat sniffed it then shook his head. The queen let out a wail mournful enough to bring grief to the cats watching from above. A brown warrior stepped from the assembled Starclan cats amd to the ground below to guide the kit to them. A grey and white tom licked his mate’s shoulder as the pain of kitting faded away.

“Three she-cats and a tom,” The tom mewed comfortingly, “Three daughters and a son. We have three daughters and a son, Sunblossom.”

The queen purred as her newborns began to follow the scent of what little milk she could offer them. The ribs of every cat in the clan, save for the kits, were clearly visible to the point where they looked to be more bone and pelt than warriors. “They are beautiful aren’t they Wolfstar?” She rubbed her head against the closest one. The joy in her eyes were bright, but her gaze was distant, as if staring at something that was not there. Pain and fear shown in them as well. “As promised, you get to name the tom. But you, my darlings, I get to name.” She touched each of her kits with her tail tip as she named them, “You will be Amberkit. And you, Snowkit. And I didn’t forget you Dawnkit.”

“They are beautiful names for such beautiful she-kits.” He touched his nose to the grey pelt of his son, “And you my little warrior, will be called Owlkit.” Sunblossom seemed to shudder when he said that, but responded only by licking Owllkit. Wolfstar spent a few moment more sharing tongues with his mate before padding out of the nursery. Countless questions flooded from the clan, but he answered none as he made his way up the highledge.

“May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the highledge for a clan meeting.” He spoke the words, though they were unnecessary. Every cat in the clan was already awake and waiting for news. “Sunblossom has successfully given birth to three she-cats and a tom. This is a good day for Thunderclan!” Joyous murmurs passed through the clan until one cat lifted his head and hissed

“A good day?” His voice was venomous with anger, “You call this a good day? Our pelts are freezing off, there’s little to eat, and we have no herbs to ward off yet another wave of greencough. We’ll starve ourselves trying to feed these kits of yours, as if we didn’t have enough chance of that already!” Wolfstar’s eyes narrowed and his tail twitched, but he restrained himself from attacking his own warrior. He opened his mouth to say something, but was silenced by another cat.

“No,” The weary voice said. Every head turned to see Sunblossom at the nursery’s entrance “I don’t want that. In fact, I can’t want it. The clan’s suffered enough just trying to get me to give birth. I couldn’t stand to risk any more of your lives.”

“Sunblossom, what are you saying?” Wolfstar’s eyes widened with shock.

“I’m saying I’m leaving Thunderclan.” Gasps passed through the clan, “There’s a barn in the horseplace just past Windclan. It’s always been filled with mice. Our kits and ours can survive there.”

“But kits are always taken from there and never seen again.” One warrior mewed

“Yes, but wherever they end up they will survive and be healthy. Where here they have little chance of that. I’d rather my kits grow up and be kittypets then die here!”

Wolfstar’s head dropped, sadness dragging him down like a tide. “There’s no way I can convince you otherwise is there?”

“I made up my mind when Sagewing told me I was expecting.” She turned to return to her newborns saying over her shoulder, “I leave in the morning.”

Above Starclan stared as amazed and shocked as Thunderclan below, if not more so. Endless moments passed before Firestar spoke saying, “Rock, are you sure these are the four?”

Rock nodded silently, then raised his head and spoke clearly so every cat in Starclan could hear his words. Words that were more than just a combination of sound and syllable, but had become a prophecy of what was to come. “Stone, Feather, light, and Rain. It alone can end our pain.”

[warblersong]

Chapter 1


Dawn woke slowly that morning, sleep refusing to release its hold on her. The night had been rough for both her and her denmate, Sparrow, as a great storm raged across the landscape. She personally did not mind rain itself, perhaps she enjoyed the sound of its rhythm-less beating against the soil. But Sparrow, he feared the sound of thunder and the crack of lightning. And last night the sky was so fierce and angry that when the thunder clapped through the clouds the walls of the barn shook and the mounds of hey they made their nests trembled. She would have hated to be a cat without a roof over her head on a night like that. Once more she was grateful of her home and friend, but that did not stop her dreams from imagining what it would be like: darting through dirty thunderpaths, claws scrabbling on rock, searching, searching, desperately searching for a place to stay. Fear stabbing her as lightning struck nearby. Finally curling in a dark hole to sleep.

Shaking her head free of the dream Dawn rose to her paws then lowered her chest in a long stretch, her forepaws splayed out before her claws extended. She blinked and looked at the morning light streaming into the barn in shafts through narrow slits in the roof. Particals of dust danced in the light as they passed through them. Beyond the hay she was standing on there was little to be found in this room save for tools and grain the twolegs used to feed the animals and put in dirt every new-leaf. Leaning against a wall a few bags of grains lay and behind it a small squeak could be heard. The prey was running already.

Dawn gave her pale ginger fur a shake, and a lick to her paws. She had trod on a sharp stone while escaping the weather with sparrow. While it didn’t bleed the soreness was still there. She stifled a sneeze as dust from the hay scattered from her pelt. With her grooming done she looked to the brown lump of fur that curled into a ball on the next bale over. He was completely still save for the slow rise and fall of his chest. Looks like he had managed to fall asleep after all.

“Sparrow,” Dawn called prodding her friend with a paw, “Time to wake up.”

“No it’s not,” the young tom grumbled. He raised his head and blinked his green eyes, then curled back again resting his tail over his nose, “It’s still early. Time to sleep.”

“Oh no you don’t” Dawn pushed him with her nose until he was practically falling out of his nest and dangerously close to the edge of the hay bale, “You are waking up, right now.”

“Alright alright!” He protested scrabbling away from the edge, “No need to get all shovey.” He shook his fur free of dust then started clawing his nest back together. With it in one piece he cast his gaze around the early morning barn . “What the dung? It’s barely past dawn! I’m going back to sleep.”

“No you are not,” Dawn guarded his nest by sitting in it, “That storm drove all the mice out of their holes. We’re hunting.” Sparrow only sighed then jumped down from the hay bale.

“Fine,” He muttered just before disappearing outside the barn door, “let’s get this over with shall we?” Dawn followed, tail high.

Outside the sky showed no sign of the great rain that had just passed. The sky was as blue as her eyes and what little clouds hung there were thin and wispy. The sun warmed the land, but a gentle breeze cooled it perfectly. The air she tasted was still heavy with moisture however and the grass still glittered with dew. Sparrow walked through them grumbling as his paws grew wet. He did finally grow silent as he found a place to sit near the barn’s wall and waited for the mice to run out and into his waiting claws. Dawn continued on, he was the more patient of the two.

She chose to head into one of the fields. Shafts of barley grew here thin and tall like the legs of a river bird with shafts of grain protruding in several places. Based on how big the grain was getting and how often the mice came here the harvest was sure to be starting soon. Dawn walked through the field confidently and without hesitation. Season after season of living here had taken away all the uncertainty in her pawsteps and she weaved through the narrow passageways between stalks as if she belonged there. The ground was muddy underpaw and her steps made a squeaching sound if she wasn’t careful when she walked, but she did not mind.

Finally she stopped, ears pricked. Her movement had ceased so suddenly her forepaw was still in air above the place she was about to step. She had heard a mouse. She strained her ears until she heard it again realizing it was not on the ground at all. Looking up she could see the tiny brown prey clutching a stalk with its little paws and nibbling on a piece of grain. Dawn gathered her hindquarters and leapt, grasped the unsuspecting mouse with both paws, then landed perfectly balanced on her hind paws to give it the killing bite. Barely a few sunpaces and she had already made her first kill. The day was truly going well.

She returned to the barn with her mouse to find that Sparrow had already caught his. “Didn’t take too long,” He said shrugging when she looked at it. Normally he would wait at that hole until nearly Sunhigh, “Little guy was hungry anyway.” He picked it up by its tail and the two retreated back into the barn to eat.

“Looks like the twolegs might be harvesting the barley soon,” Dawn said swallowing a mouthful of mouse, “Probably going to be a little early this season.”

“Bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Sparrow mewed jokingly batting her ear with a paw, “with all that grain gone you’d get that field o’ dirt all to yourself! I probably wouldn’t be able to keep you out of it.”

Dawn laughed with him. His words were true. When the barley was harvested it left only a wide patch of dirt. Every now and then mice would scurry across it, but it was rare due to the lack of cover. But when they did Dawn would race through there, fast as a rabbit, and chase the mice. Even if she wasn’t hunting she would still hare across the baron field, claws digging into the soil to drive her faster. She never tried to hide that she was most alive when chasing those mice rather than when she was stalking and pouncing.

“It would be nice to properly stretch my legs again.” She mewed, “besides, that yellow dog hasn’t tried to catch me in a while. I think it’s given up.”

Sparrow shuddered at the thought of the massive yellow dog Dawn would bait into chasing her just so she’d have an excuse to run. The result was always noisy and the twolegs always had something to yowl about it, but she always got away. “Just don’t get yourself eaten next time you try that.”

“I won’t dad,” She teased and rubbed her head against him. With their meals finished she decided to climb to the top of the hay bales to the rafters. After walking across them they reached a place where the roof had crumbled, leaving a hole just big enough for them to squeeze through. The twolegs covered it with some kind of shiny black pelt to keep the elements away from their grain though. Still, she and Sparrow always managed to squeeze through it and it made a perfect access to the roof of the barn. Dawn pulled herself through and Sparrow followed. From above the two just looked over the farm, sitting like sentinels over their territory.

The land was vast and beautiful. Fields of grain and corn stretched out before them, ripe and ready to be harvested. Twolegs walked about the territory, completing duties the two cats could never understand. Always near them were one of the two dogs that lived on the territory, tails waging and tongues lolling out of their mouths. Mice they chose not to hunt darted between the stalks of grain and birds took wing as they pleased. The territory was beautiful in almost every way of looking at it.

Beyond it Dawn had never seen for herself. A great twoleg place stood with a wall made of smooth, cool stone wrapped around it shaped to look like a fence. Within the fenced twoleg place many trees grew tall and proud, their lacking thickness giving away their youth. Leaf-bare had caused the leaves to change to various shades of orange, yellow, red, and brown making it look as though the entire area was an entire flame sparking to life when the wind blew them. No matter what she had done or what she had thought she couldn’t help but be drawn to the fenced twoleg place.

“Do you think one day we should go to the fenced twoleg place?” Dawn asked while her thoughts still lingered on it.

“What do you want to go there for? The barn’s just fine.”

“Well, yeah. But haven’t you ever wanted to leave?”

Sparrow shrugged, “Every once and a while. But after I think about it there’s no reason to and then I remember where I am and that this is my home. Then my little thoughts of adventure just disappear.”

“Well,” Dawn sighed “it all becomes clear to me now. The truths the world’s been wanting to hear, needing to hear, for so many moons! You, Sparrow of the farm, are the most boring cat to ever live!”

“Hey!” Sparrow leapt to his paws, “I’ll show you who’s boring!” He leapt at her, his paws wrapping around her neck and the two fell over, wrestling. They play fought for a moment, claws never becoming unsheathed, until their play had rolled them close to the edge of the angled roof. When the both of them stopped Dawn licked her sore paw.

“I guess you are right though,” Dawn said finally putting down her paw. Looking up she saw that Sunhigh had come. With their meal already finished the two cats had the day all to themselves, to do with as they pleased. Nothing told them what to do or where to go and they lived for themselves. Everything was peaceful and joyous. “I can’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather be.”

She sat beside Sparrow, her pelt against his. She rubbed her head against his shoulder purring and could hear him purring as well. His tail twined around hers and he licked her head. “Neither can I, Dawn. Neither can I.”

In the afternoon that followed the two cats roamed their territory as freely as the birds that flew there. They ran in and out of fields, leapt between rocks in a small stream – Sparrow falling in once – and rolling in the soft grass. A twoleg kit once approached the cats and Dawn fluffed her fur to let them pet her for a while before they both continued on their way. The kit was still so small, probably only a few lengths, but seemed to be growing by the day.

As the sun began to set they began to search for their evening meal. Sparrow ambushed a young pigeon – made more of feathers than meat - while Dawn chased down a rabbit big enough for them to share. They ate both together finding themselves comfortably full afterwards. At Dawn’s idea they took the bird and put its feathers in their nests before they curled up to sleep. It made them delightfully soft. Dawn settled first Sparrow licked her once between the ears before settling into his, his back facing her. She watched his deep brown fur for a moment then fell asleep herself.

She found herself in a field abundant in mice and rabbits. This was the landscape she most often spent her dreams in. But this time no pleasure or good hunting greeted her. Hunger knotted in her belly. A sharp stab of pain lanced through her shoulder and another in her leg another in her tail. She gave a sharp scream in pain as she jumped to avoid what was hurting her, but saw nothing. Crouching, pain stabbed her belly like claws and she turned to run. In the corner of her vision she glanced a flash of a massive dog’s fangs and another jolt of pain came.

She was being attacked by a dog she could not see!