Story Time - Thistlestar's Anger
Froststar sighed as she watched the group leave, nothing had happened while they were gone. She had been on edge ever since a rogue had stolen a kit, but nothing had happened since. Perhaps Starclan was wrong about rogues taking over. She shook her head, she shouldn't be thinking about that, she had a clan to protect and lead, she couldn't be thinking on what the whims of dead cats could be. She sighed as she padded over to the fresh kill pile, sniffing and picking out the mouse Mapleivy had caught, it was her personal favorite but they didn't find many in their territory, she paused before picking up a vole as well and padded over to the nursery, calling out to the kits, "Little ones? I've brought you something."
Ravenkit's ears perked as she heard paw steps approaching. She looked up from her game to see the Clan leader. She immediately thought something was wrong until the scent of fresh prey hit her. Froststar dropped it near her, Smokekit, and Spiderkit. "Thank you, Froststar!" Ravenkit said, dipping her head.
Froststar purred at the little kit, well almost apprentice, she noted that once Mistpaw and Sagepaw became warriors, she would make her an apprentice the same day. She looked at Ravenkit putting down her own mouse, and asking, "Would you mind if I eat with you?"
Ravenkit tried to hold back the shock she felt. The Clan leader wanted to eat with her! Well, and Smokekit, of course. "Y-yes! Please!" she stammered. She looked at Smokekit to see if he objected, but who could say no to the Clan leader?
Smokekit was hesitant but he was finally in a good mood. He Walked over to the prey, Froststar, and Ravenkit. "I'll join and it would be awesome for you to join us, Froststar." He mewed, his voice quiet from lack of use. He crouched down and waited for the she-cats to eat first. He had his manners.
Spiderkit trotted over to Froststar, Ravenkit, and Smokekit. "I haven't eaten in a while. Thank-you, Froststar." He crouched beside the prey and waited for when he could start eating.
Froststar smiled at the three kits, and settled down adjacent to them. Digging into her meal, closing her eyes as she savor end the taste. It had been awhile since she had mouse and she had almost forgotten. Of course when she was meeting Leopardheart at fourtrees, mouse was abundant, but since he passed, she had stayed in her own territory and kept her head down as not to bring suspicion to herself, of course she always thought that Darkstar had known, thankfully he hadn't said anything and no one else had known. Her heart ached at the thought of him, and the life she could have had but she knew it wouldn't have been an easy life. She opened her eyes, and continued with her meal, every once and awhile glancing at the kits.
Ravenkit waited for someone to take the first bite so that nobody thought she was rude, even though she was starving. Froststar took the initiative and Ravenkit began quickly after. She noticed that Spiderkit had now joined them and the two brothers were happily eating their share as well. Froststar seemed to be lost in her own world but it was okay with Ravenkit. For the first time in a long time, Ravenkit felt warm and welcome, as if this was finally right where she belonged.
Froststar licked her lips and whiskers as she yawned and buried the bones of her meal, her hunger was satisfied and was ready to go out with Sagepaw, Mistpaw and Cedar and train. She wanted to have Cedar watch their lesson, and maybe join in, if he felt comfortable. She silently cursed as she remembered she needed to explain the code and who Starclan were to the two of them. She glanced at the camp entrance, waiting for the patrol to return before she looked back at the kits, " You three are growing up so fast. Would you like to hear a story? Or are you too old for that anymore? "
Ravenkit licked her lips as she took the last few bites of her portion. She looked at the two toms besides her, who were quietly eating their share. Even though she was quickly approaching her eighth moon, she was always eager to hear a good story. She did not know if the toms would be too embarrassed so she quietly meowed, "I would love to, Froststar."
Froststar smiled at Ravenkit before nodding, " I know I'm not an elder and I'm not the best at telling stories but I'll try my best. Now let's see, hmmm...oh I know, how about I tell you about the time Riverclan started a fight with Shadowclan at a gathering, one that ended in bloodshed. Now I wasn't there, I was here guarding the camp, I had just been made a warrior the moon before so I wasn't picked to go. Now Thistlestar, he was leader before Darkstar was. Now Thistlestar was angry, his patrols had scented Riverclan, creeping ever closer to the camp, and he wanted answers. Now from what I was told, the gathering started normally, with the leaders of Thunderclan, Sootstar, and Windclan, Heatherstar, going first before it was his turn, when he stepped forward, Riverclan's leader, Troutstar, interrupted him, yowling out an accusation. She said, " Shadowclan has stolen prey and killed one of our kits." Her warriors yowled their agreement, while Shadowclan snarled their disagreement.
Outraged at this accusation, Thistlestar snarled at the young shecat leader, "How dare you?! What you say is a lie! My Warriors would never harm a kit!" But Troutstar wasn't having any of it, she was so caught up and so sure that we had done the unthinkable that she had actually unsheathed her claws and took a swipe at Thistlestar. Thistlestar so in shock, didn't even duck, and took the swipe to his nose at full force, sending him hissing and snarling at the young cat. Blood spattering on the great rock, Thistlestar pulled himself to his fullest height and snarled at the shecat,"Do you have no shame! This is a gathering! " At once, the three leaders except Riverclan's looked up at the moon, and were shocked to see no change or clouds in the sky, it seemed that Starclan approved of her treatment. Sootstar and Heatherstar looked at each other before calling their Warriors to them and leaving the two warring clan to themselves.
Thistlestar thought to himself, he wasn't going to let her do this to his clan. And do you know what he did next?"
Ravenkit sat in awe as she listened to Froststar's story. She gasped in horror upon hearing that RiverClan would accuse ShadowClan of something so cruel...killing a kit! Ravenkit could not believe the cruelty of RiverClan. She desperately needed to know what happened next.
"And then what? Did he fight RiverClan? Did he beat them? Does RiverClan still hate us??" Her head swarmed with questions, and she was eager to learn more about her Clan.
Froststar purred at her enthusiasm, she remembered being excited like that when she was a kit as well. She she flicked her tail as she continued, "Now, now, all in due time. Now where was I? Oh yes, I remember. Thistlestar warned Troutstar of what would happen she she declare war on another clan, so early in her leadership would lead to nothing but trouble. But Troutstar heeded none of his warning as yowled out a battle cry and leaped at Thistlestar, knocking him off the great rock, with both of them snarling and yowling on the ground. Before anyone knew it, the clearing had erupted in chaos, the treaty long forgotten. From the elders who were there, they had said that the medicine cats had shuffled them out of the clearing and into the bushes to safety though they could still watch. From what Dappleleaf said, she was a elder at the time, all she could hear was screeching and yowls of pain, she shuddered everytime someone mentioned it. The elders agreed that it was the worst show of the warrior code they had ever seen. There wasn't a cat who was safe in the clearing.
And it lasted awhile, almost the whole night. I remember pacing after they didn't come back, but no one could figure out what to do, so we stayed until they returned. I remember talking to Cedartail, another elder at the time, about what happened. He said that the fighting finally stopped when Thistlestar stood on the great rock and yowl loudly for peace. Everyone stopped and stared at his wounds. He was heavily bleeding, and clumps of fur hung from his body and he was panting hard and missing an ear. At the base of the rock was Troutstar, lying motionless and not breathing. She had lost her first life in a battle she started. Thistlestar ordered his Warriors, elders, and medicine cat to return to camp. And so they did, slowly and painfully, with Warriors helping each other out of the clearing and the medicine cat, Whiteleaf, helping the worst.
Thistlestar turned to Riverclan's deputy, Reedfang, with a heavy glare, and spoke icily and quietly,"Now I think that's enough, take you leader back to your camp, tell her I spared her more than once this night. This might have been the night you'd been made leader. I won't forget this anytime soon. I hope your leader learns from this lesson. We did nothing and we still came up on top. Leave us now. Let Starclan have mercy on your clan because I won't the next time I find you on our land. " And with that Thistlestar, jumped down from the rock, landing heavily, stumbling alittle from his wounds before padding away, his tail straight up and head held high. The Riverclan warriors parted for him as he left not looking back.
When he returned to camp, I remember vaguely, since I was busy helping out where I could, whether it be holding cobwebs or chewing poultices, though I remember I don't think I've ever seen him so weak, he almost collapsed as soon as he set foot in camp. Whiteleaf and I quickly brought him to his den and went on to treating him, though it didn't help, I remember I had went back to grab some soaked moss and when I entered the den, Thistlestar was so still, he looked dead and wasn't breathing, I thought that he was gone, before Whiteleaf told me it was okay, he was just losing a life. I felt a chill go down my spine before he started breathing again. He rasped to Whiteleaf, " Do not worry, that wasn't my last, but this is. "
It took moons for the camp to go back to normal, with no warriors injured or apprentices. Thankfully, Troutstar seemed to have gotten the message and hadn't bothered us, and seemed to know that it wasn't worth it. While there was animosity during Troutstar's reign between our clans, now that she has passed and so has Thistlestar, our clans don't hate each other more than need be. "
Spiderkit had fallen asleep due to lack of rest and lack of sleep because he's constantly thinking. He had thought about going to the nursery, but when Froststar mentioned a story, he stayed, but he feel asleep before she could continue.
Smokekit was intrigued with this story. It. . .it was powerful to him. (Don't know how to explain what he is feeling.) He growled. "Bad Riverclan." He looked at Froststar, admiration in his eyes. "I want to be like you when I grow up." He said. She was a good leader and he trusted her.
Ravenkit could feel strong emotions as Froststar told her story. She could feel the crippling fear that cats like Dappleleaf must have felt. She could feel the anxiety that Froststar must have felt as she paced the camp waiting for her Clanmates. And she could feel the anguish that Thistestar must have felt, even after having lost an ear and declaring that the battle finally come to a stop. Ravenkit was so moved by the story that she didn't notice that Spiderkit had drifted off to sleep.
"Wow...what a brave cat, to fight all those cats even though the Clan was innocent. And he lost an ear!" Ravenkit shuddered at the thought. The words that Froststar recited still rang through Ravenkit's head, especially Thistlestar's eerie words to Reedfang. 'I hope to be strong and scary like that some day...' she thought. She nodded as Smokekit made his comment to Froststar.
"I hope Thistlestar lived his last life as a peaceful one. He sounded so brave, and so strong, and nobody would mess with him! Did you become leader after him, Froststar?"
Froststar smiled at the kits, she hoped that they grew up to be more loyal then she ever was. She hoped that they would never fall in love with someone outside of their clan, like she did. And she told them so but she leaved out the love part, they didn't need to know that." And you will be, as long as you listen to your mentors and are loyal to your clan, you'll be the best warriors in the clan. " She glanced at the entrance and noticed that the patrol was back, before answering Ravenkit, "He was, he outlived three leaders and watched three deputies shape their clans. When the fight happened, he was the oldest leader at the gathering. He had been leader for many seasons when Sootstar,Heatherstar and Troutstar were just kits. And he did, he lived his last life peacefully, well as peacefully as you can when your defending your clan. But he died peacefully in his sleep after a harsh leaf bare. We were sad but we knew that he had served our clan long and harder than any other cat would have and we were grateful and wished him many moons of peace with our ancestors. No, I was not deputy at the time, actually it was Darkclaw, who later became Darkstar, who was deputy and became leader, and then it was Froststream who became Froststar after him, and I think you. Know what happened after that. "
Ravenkit could not believe that Thistlestar was so much older than everyone else, and he was still able to fight...and be victorious! Ravenkit was filled with awe, and something else...she felt proud to be in ShadowClan. At first she was feeling lonely and like she didn't belong, but now...she might not have known it now, for she was so young, but in her heart she would die for her Clan. She had already seen so much, and she was only a kit, but to be part of a Clan full of brave Warriors and even braver leaders...
"I'm glad that he was able to go to StarClan peacefully. I hope he is able to run where the prey is plentiful...," Ravenkit mewed softly. She had barely noticed that a warrior, Mapleivy, had entered the den to listen to the story as well. "Yes, this is the best story I have ever heard!" she said.
Smokekit glanced at the warrior who had walked over and he told himself. 'That's Mapleivy.' He looked up at her and then when she commented one Froststar he nodded. "Yes." He turned to Froststar. "That was a great story, Froststar."
Froststar purred at the little kits, she loved kits and hoped that one day she would have some but now that Leopardheart was gone, she didn't know if she would ever have them but,she thought as she looked around the camp, she supposed that the clan would become her kits in a way she didn't think of before. She sighed softly as she heard Mapleivy, and smiled, " It was my pleasure, little ones. It's good to know the history of the ones who came before us. Now it seems that Spiderkit has fallen asleep, and I have some things to take care of, can I trust you two to watch over the camp while I'm gone?" She glanced at Mapleivy and winked slightly, " I'm sure Mapleivy can show you some battle moves, if you ask her nicely."
Ravenkit's ears perked as she heard paw steps approaching. She looked up from her game to see the Clan leader. She immediately thought something was wrong until the scent of fresh prey hit her. Froststar dropped it near her, Smokekit, and Spiderkit. "Thank you, Froststar!" Ravenkit said, dipping her head.
Froststar purred at the little kit, well almost apprentice, she noted that once Mistpaw and Sagepaw became warriors, she would make her an apprentice the same day. She looked at Ravenkit putting down her own mouse, and asking, "Would you mind if I eat with you?"
Ravenkit tried to hold back the shock she felt. The Clan leader wanted to eat with her! Well, and Smokekit, of course. "Y-yes! Please!" she stammered. She looked at Smokekit to see if he objected, but who could say no to the Clan leader?
Smokekit was hesitant but he was finally in a good mood. He Walked over to the prey, Froststar, and Ravenkit. "I'll join and it would be awesome for you to join us, Froststar." He mewed, his voice quiet from lack of use. He crouched down and waited for the she-cats to eat first. He had his manners.
Spiderkit trotted over to Froststar, Ravenkit, and Smokekit. "I haven't eaten in a while. Thank-you, Froststar." He crouched beside the prey and waited for when he could start eating.
Froststar smiled at the three kits, and settled down adjacent to them. Digging into her meal, closing her eyes as she savor end the taste. It had been awhile since she had mouse and she had almost forgotten. Of course when she was meeting Leopardheart at fourtrees, mouse was abundant, but since he passed, she had stayed in her own territory and kept her head down as not to bring suspicion to herself, of course she always thought that Darkstar had known, thankfully he hadn't said anything and no one else had known. Her heart ached at the thought of him, and the life she could have had but she knew it wouldn't have been an easy life. She opened her eyes, and continued with her meal, every once and awhile glancing at the kits.
Ravenkit waited for someone to take the first bite so that nobody thought she was rude, even though she was starving. Froststar took the initiative and Ravenkit began quickly after. She noticed that Spiderkit had now joined them and the two brothers were happily eating their share as well. Froststar seemed to be lost in her own world but it was okay with Ravenkit. For the first time in a long time, Ravenkit felt warm and welcome, as if this was finally right where she belonged.
Froststar licked her lips and whiskers as she yawned and buried the bones of her meal, her hunger was satisfied and was ready to go out with Sagepaw, Mistpaw and Cedar and train. She wanted to have Cedar watch their lesson, and maybe join in, if he felt comfortable. She silently cursed as she remembered she needed to explain the code and who Starclan were to the two of them. She glanced at the camp entrance, waiting for the patrol to return before she looked back at the kits, " You three are growing up so fast. Would you like to hear a story? Or are you too old for that anymore? "
Ravenkit licked her lips as she took the last few bites of her portion. She looked at the two toms besides her, who were quietly eating their share. Even though she was quickly approaching her eighth moon, she was always eager to hear a good story. She did not know if the toms would be too embarrassed so she quietly meowed, "I would love to, Froststar."
Froststar smiled at Ravenkit before nodding, " I know I'm not an elder and I'm not the best at telling stories but I'll try my best. Now let's see, hmmm...oh I know, how about I tell you about the time Riverclan started a fight with Shadowclan at a gathering, one that ended in bloodshed. Now I wasn't there, I was here guarding the camp, I had just been made a warrior the moon before so I wasn't picked to go. Now Thistlestar, he was leader before Darkstar was. Now Thistlestar was angry, his patrols had scented Riverclan, creeping ever closer to the camp, and he wanted answers. Now from what I was told, the gathering started normally, with the leaders of Thunderclan, Sootstar, and Windclan, Heatherstar, going first before it was his turn, when he stepped forward, Riverclan's leader, Troutstar, interrupted him, yowling out an accusation. She said, " Shadowclan has stolen prey and killed one of our kits." Her warriors yowled their agreement, while Shadowclan snarled their disagreement.
Outraged at this accusation, Thistlestar snarled at the young shecat leader, "How dare you?! What you say is a lie! My Warriors would never harm a kit!" But Troutstar wasn't having any of it, she was so caught up and so sure that we had done the unthinkable that she had actually unsheathed her claws and took a swipe at Thistlestar. Thistlestar so in shock, didn't even duck, and took the swipe to his nose at full force, sending him hissing and snarling at the young cat. Blood spattering on the great rock, Thistlestar pulled himself to his fullest height and snarled at the shecat,"Do you have no shame! This is a gathering! " At once, the three leaders except Riverclan's looked up at the moon, and were shocked to see no change or clouds in the sky, it seemed that Starclan approved of her treatment. Sootstar and Heatherstar looked at each other before calling their Warriors to them and leaving the two warring clan to themselves.
Thistlestar thought to himself, he wasn't going to let her do this to his clan. And do you know what he did next?"
Ravenkit sat in awe as she listened to Froststar's story. She gasped in horror upon hearing that RiverClan would accuse ShadowClan of something so cruel...killing a kit! Ravenkit could not believe the cruelty of RiverClan. She desperately needed to know what happened next.
"And then what? Did he fight RiverClan? Did he beat them? Does RiverClan still hate us??" Her head swarmed with questions, and she was eager to learn more about her Clan.
Froststar purred at her enthusiasm, she remembered being excited like that when she was a kit as well. She she flicked her tail as she continued, "Now, now, all in due time. Now where was I? Oh yes, I remember. Thistlestar warned Troutstar of what would happen she she declare war on another clan, so early in her leadership would lead to nothing but trouble. But Troutstar heeded none of his warning as yowled out a battle cry and leaped at Thistlestar, knocking him off the great rock, with both of them snarling and yowling on the ground. Before anyone knew it, the clearing had erupted in chaos, the treaty long forgotten. From the elders who were there, they had said that the medicine cats had shuffled them out of the clearing and into the bushes to safety though they could still watch. From what Dappleleaf said, she was a elder at the time, all she could hear was screeching and yowls of pain, she shuddered everytime someone mentioned it. The elders agreed that it was the worst show of the warrior code they had ever seen. There wasn't a cat who was safe in the clearing.
And it lasted awhile, almost the whole night. I remember pacing after they didn't come back, but no one could figure out what to do, so we stayed until they returned. I remember talking to Cedartail, another elder at the time, about what happened. He said that the fighting finally stopped when Thistlestar stood on the great rock and yowl loudly for peace. Everyone stopped and stared at his wounds. He was heavily bleeding, and clumps of fur hung from his body and he was panting hard and missing an ear. At the base of the rock was Troutstar, lying motionless and not breathing. She had lost her first life in a battle she started. Thistlestar ordered his Warriors, elders, and medicine cat to return to camp. And so they did, slowly and painfully, with Warriors helping each other out of the clearing and the medicine cat, Whiteleaf, helping the worst.
Thistlestar turned to Riverclan's deputy, Reedfang, with a heavy glare, and spoke icily and quietly,"Now I think that's enough, take you leader back to your camp, tell her I spared her more than once this night. This might have been the night you'd been made leader. I won't forget this anytime soon. I hope your leader learns from this lesson. We did nothing and we still came up on top. Leave us now. Let Starclan have mercy on your clan because I won't the next time I find you on our land. " And with that Thistlestar, jumped down from the rock, landing heavily, stumbling alittle from his wounds before padding away, his tail straight up and head held high. The Riverclan warriors parted for him as he left not looking back.
When he returned to camp, I remember vaguely, since I was busy helping out where I could, whether it be holding cobwebs or chewing poultices, though I remember I don't think I've ever seen him so weak, he almost collapsed as soon as he set foot in camp. Whiteleaf and I quickly brought him to his den and went on to treating him, though it didn't help, I remember I had went back to grab some soaked moss and when I entered the den, Thistlestar was so still, he looked dead and wasn't breathing, I thought that he was gone, before Whiteleaf told me it was okay, he was just losing a life. I felt a chill go down my spine before he started breathing again. He rasped to Whiteleaf, " Do not worry, that wasn't my last, but this is. "
It took moons for the camp to go back to normal, with no warriors injured or apprentices. Thankfully, Troutstar seemed to have gotten the message and hadn't bothered us, and seemed to know that it wasn't worth it. While there was animosity during Troutstar's reign between our clans, now that she has passed and so has Thistlestar, our clans don't hate each other more than need be. "
Spiderkit had fallen asleep due to lack of rest and lack of sleep because he's constantly thinking. He had thought about going to the nursery, but when Froststar mentioned a story, he stayed, but he feel asleep before she could continue.
Smokekit was intrigued with this story. It. . .it was powerful to him. (Don't know how to explain what he is feeling.) He growled. "Bad Riverclan." He looked at Froststar, admiration in his eyes. "I want to be like you when I grow up." He said. She was a good leader and he trusted her.
Ravenkit could feel strong emotions as Froststar told her story. She could feel the crippling fear that cats like Dappleleaf must have felt. She could feel the anxiety that Froststar must have felt as she paced the camp waiting for her Clanmates. And she could feel the anguish that Thistestar must have felt, even after having lost an ear and declaring that the battle finally come to a stop. Ravenkit was so moved by the story that she didn't notice that Spiderkit had drifted off to sleep.
"Wow...what a brave cat, to fight all those cats even though the Clan was innocent. And he lost an ear!" Ravenkit shuddered at the thought. The words that Froststar recited still rang through Ravenkit's head, especially Thistlestar's eerie words to Reedfang. 'I hope to be strong and scary like that some day...' she thought. She nodded as Smokekit made his comment to Froststar.
"I hope Thistlestar lived his last life as a peaceful one. He sounded so brave, and so strong, and nobody would mess with him! Did you become leader after him, Froststar?"
Froststar smiled at the kits, she hoped that they grew up to be more loyal then she ever was. She hoped that they would never fall in love with someone outside of their clan, like she did. And she told them so but she leaved out the love part, they didn't need to know that." And you will be, as long as you listen to your mentors and are loyal to your clan, you'll be the best warriors in the clan. " She glanced at the entrance and noticed that the patrol was back, before answering Ravenkit, "He was, he outlived three leaders and watched three deputies shape their clans. When the fight happened, he was the oldest leader at the gathering. He had been leader for many seasons when Sootstar,Heatherstar and Troutstar were just kits. And he did, he lived his last life peacefully, well as peacefully as you can when your defending your clan. But he died peacefully in his sleep after a harsh leaf bare. We were sad but we knew that he had served our clan long and harder than any other cat would have and we were grateful and wished him many moons of peace with our ancestors. No, I was not deputy at the time, actually it was Darkclaw, who later became Darkstar, who was deputy and became leader, and then it was Froststream who became Froststar after him, and I think you. Know what happened after that. "
Ravenkit could not believe that Thistlestar was so much older than everyone else, and he was still able to fight...and be victorious! Ravenkit was filled with awe, and something else...she felt proud to be in ShadowClan. At first she was feeling lonely and like she didn't belong, but now...she might not have known it now, for she was so young, but in her heart she would die for her Clan. She had already seen so much, and she was only a kit, but to be part of a Clan full of brave Warriors and even braver leaders...
"I'm glad that he was able to go to StarClan peacefully. I hope he is able to run where the prey is plentiful...," Ravenkit mewed softly. She had barely noticed that a warrior, Mapleivy, had entered the den to listen to the story as well. "Yes, this is the best story I have ever heard!" she said.
Smokekit glanced at the warrior who had walked over and he told himself. 'That's Mapleivy.' He looked up at her and then when she commented one Froststar he nodded. "Yes." He turned to Froststar. "That was a great story, Froststar."
Froststar purred at the little kits, she loved kits and hoped that one day she would have some but now that Leopardheart was gone, she didn't know if she would ever have them but,she thought as she looked around the camp, she supposed that the clan would become her kits in a way she didn't think of before. She sighed softly as she heard Mapleivy, and smiled, " It was my pleasure, little ones. It's good to know the history of the ones who came before us. Now it seems that Spiderkit has fallen asleep, and I have some things to take care of, can I trust you two to watch over the camp while I'm gone?" She glanced at Mapleivy and winked slightly, " I'm sure Mapleivy can show you some battle moves, if you ask her nicely."