Cats of the Clans

Riverclan

[Leader]

Springstar

- She-cat with long grey and white fur, small. Yellow eyes.

[Deputy]

Willowfur

- Sleek and slender she-cat with grey fur. Green eyes

[Medicine Cat]

Nightsky

- Jet black, long haired tom. Green eyes

[Elders]

Nettlebush

- Old, calico tom with brown eyes.

[Queens]

Foxtail

- White she-cat with reddish points

Dovetail

- Grey, long-haired she-cat. Blue eyes.

[Warriors]

Ashfall

- Massive grey tom with a darker face and paws

- Apprentice: Cinderpaw

Crowflight

- Small tom, black. Short hair and curled ears. Yellow eyes.

Shadowfrost

- Black tom, short fur. Yellow eyes. A small, white star on his chest. Ragged left ear and a scar across the left side of his face. His left eye is cloudy and blind.

Badgerfoot

- Stocky, muscular, she-cat with a bobbed tail, long white stripe from the top of her nose to the tip of her tail, white underbelly and black paws. Yellow eyes.

Hawkshade

- Large, tabby and white tom. Orange eyes. Long fur.

Briartooth

- Reddish fur, ruff around his neck, green eyes. Tom.

Squirrelblaze

- Ruddy furred she-cat with a bushy squirrel-like tail, golden eyes.

Sparrowwing

- Large chocolate brown tom with golden eyes.

Copperblaze

- Large, slim tabby tom with yellow eyes. Grey is beginning to dot his muzzle and face.

Stormfly

- Grey and brown tabby tom with white fur and a bobbed tail. Yellow eyes.

Snowstorm

- Tom with pale fur with pale reddish tints and yellow eyes.

Swallowfeather

- Large, long-haired calico she-cat. Green eyes.

Amberspeck

- She-cat. Has patches of orange tabby and black. One orange eye. One blue. Medium fur.

Icestripe

- Grey tabby tom with long fur. Yellow eyes. Big and fluffy.

[Apprentices]

Stonepaw

- Small, slight and skinny tom. Chocolate brown and green eyes

Dawnpaw

- She-cat with long, red fur, bushy tail. Green eyes. Small and lean.

Cinderpaw

- Creamy white, short furred tom. Angled face. Big ears. Typical, brown siamese markings. Big blue eyes. Small and thin.

[Kits]

Featherkit

- Grey tabby and white she-cat. Fluffy. Green eyes.

Owlkit

- Tabby and white tom. Small, fluffy. Golden eyes.

Leafkit

- Sooty grey she-cat with blue eyes.

Shadowclan

[Leader]

Blackstar

- Pure white medium hair tom with big, black paws, ears, and tail.

[Deputy]

Riverwind

- Cinnamon point shorthair tom, fairly bulky, blue eyes.

- Apprentice: Lionpaw

[Medicine Cat]

Smallfoot

- Black and white short haired tom with a scrunched face. Yellow eyes. Was born with a small and shriveled front paw.

- Apprentice: Deerpaw

[Queens]

Greypelt

- White, fluffy she-cat with deep blue eyes and a grey face.

Mothbriar

- Small, grey lynx point she-cat.

[Elders]

Oakleaf

- Once a black tom, now his fur is covered in splotches of white from old age. Is missing the tip of his tail and one ear. Yellow eyes.

Patchfur

- Dilute calico she-cat with yellow eyes

Brightpelt

- She-cat with bright orange fur that is becoming more sprinkled with white, yellow eyes, rather large

[Warriors]

Sharptooth

- A very large, jet black tom with bright green eyes and overgrown teeth. Muscular.

Spottedpetal

- Light tan with dark brown spots. Larger than most she-cats, but slim. Orange, almost brown eyes.

Nightpelt

- A beautiful jet black she-cat with a long coat, long legs, graceful appearance, green eyes, longer than average teeth.

Duskcloud

- Long-hared, dark grey she-cat with darker grey stripes and golden eyes.

Stormrunner

- Black and white, large she-cat with golden eyes

Darkstripe

- Large, fluffy tom with green eyes and slight grey tabby markings.

Ratface

- Super skinny tom with short, downy fur. Leggy, gray, orange eyes.

Hareleap

- Gray tabby tom with golden eyes

Weaseltail

- Skinny, brown she-cat with very long legs. Brown eyes.

Adderstrike

- Long-legged, skinny tom. Creamy white with pale tabby splotches on his shoulders, haunches, and upper head. Bright orange eyes.

[Apprentices]

Lionpaw

- Already gigantic orange and white tom. Long hair. Orange eyes.

- Mentor: Riverwind

Dustpaw

- White lynx point she-cat with slight striping along her haunches, legs, and back. Deep blue eyes. Pure white muzzle. Small.

- Mentor: Stormrunner

Deerpaw

- Small round, calico she-cat with green eyes

- Mentor: Smallfoot

Lynxpaw

- Very small, round, fluffy she-cat with green eyes

- Mentor: Duskcloud

Thunderclan

[Leader]

Rainstar

- Gray tabby tom with white chest, numerous scars across his flanks and chest, yellow eyes

[Deputy]

Tigerpelt

- Large brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

[Warriors]

Ravenpelt

- Large black tom with long fur, and a particularly thick, long neck ruff. Brown eyes.

Sunfire

- A beautiful, large orange mackerel tabby she-cat with green eyes.

Lionfang

- Large, golden tabby tom with green eyes.

Meadowblossom

- Tortoisehell she-cat with green eyes.

Aspenshadow

- Large, white tom with a black muzzle and orange eyes.

[Apprentices]

Silverpaw

- Silver base tom with distinctive black spotting. Blue eyes.

Larkpaw

- Silver base she-cat, the spitting image of her brother, Silverpaw. Blue eyes.

Robinpaw

- Tortoiseshell tom with bright orange-red chest.

Birchpaw

- Tortoishell tom with green eyes.

Windclan

[Leader]

Smallstar

- Small medium hair tabby tom with a white chest.

[Deputy]

Ambereye

- Thin, black tom with piercing amber eyes.

[Medicine Cat]

Mosspelt

- Large tabby tom with blue eyes and a scarred muzzle.

Mudsplash

- Skinny, brown and white tom with green eyes.

[Queens]

Thawsong

- Tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes.

[Warriors]

Whitewhisker

- Calico tom with brown eyes.

Rabbitclaw

- Orange tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Breezepelt

- Skinny, sand colored tabby tom with blue eyes

Dappletuft

- Calico she-cat with brown eyes.

[Kits]

Brownkit

- Completely brown tom with green eyes.

Smallkit

- Small brown and white tom with green eyes.

Lakekit

- Tortoishell she-cat with green eyes.

Cats Outside the Clans

Storm

- Large grey tom with countless scars. Blue-green eyes.

Tansy

- Tawny she-cat with a grey back and golden-brown undersides. Green eyes.

Scrap

- Small, black and white she-cat. Yellow eyes. Back leg is horrible twisted. Tail is just a stump.

Ratter

- Mangey tom, missing patches brown of fur.

Toffee

- Gray tabby Tom with numerous battle scars, both ears are torn, numerous scars on his neck and chest and sides, heavily muscled and tough looking, green eyesAmethyst

- Beautiful tabby and white, long hair she-cat. Sleek, large. Green eyes.

Flint

- Beautiful white tom with one blue eye and one green. One grey paw and grey tail tip.

Rivermist

- Short fur, brown and white she-cat. Big, blue eyes. Stocky.

Mochi

- Silver tabby she-cat. Green eyes.

Snow

- Snow-white she-cat with a narrow face. Very small. Blue eyes.

Book 1

The Precipice

Prologue

The night was clear and cold. Not a single cloud hung in the sky and the full moon cast a white glaze upon the dark world below. Every little leaf and blade of grass rippled as if covered in a thousand tiny stars. The world seemed to glisten and on any other day, the forest would have been nothing short of beautiful. But on this day, a tension hung in the air. In the midst of Fourtrees, not a word was spoken above a whisper and the fur on every cat's back stood on end. They looked to and fro, looking for answers. Some cast their eyes to the Great Rock, but nothing changed.

Shadowclan was nowhere to be seen.

Smallstar, shifted uncomfortably on his paws from where he sat on the great rock. Beside the other two leaders, he was a mere speck. A blimp. A small, tabby with a white chest and yellow eyes beside two glistening giants seemingly made purely of starlight. He glanced to the grey and white she-cat beside him, but Springstar's eyes were on the sky.

Surely, Shadowclan would not risk Starclan's wrath for not showing up?

Only Rainstar seemed willing to break the uncomfortable silence. His white fur glistened in the moonlight, black stripes made invisible in the glowing white of his pelt. With his majestic, arched snout and bright blue eyes, he looked like a member of Starclan, descended upon the world to bless them all with his presence. As he rose to his paws, however, his old joints cracked and groaned and the once great leader was forced to stretch out his weary legs a moment before rising to address the cats nestled underneath the Great Rock. Though he had served Thunderclan faithfully for many a year, none could deny that the legend standing before them could not be much longer for this world.

There was no need to even yowl. Every eye was on him, every mouth closed in anticipation.

"It is unlike Birchstar to test Starclan's wrath… surely there is a reason for Shadowclan's absence…?" Rainstar paused, yellow eyes drifting between Smallstar and Springstar.

Smallstar shifted from paw to paw, eyes watching the rocky surface beneath his feet as he spoke. "We have no choice, but to hold the Gathering without them, I suppose." The leader had a habit of fidgeting as he talked and each word spoken came out as if muttered through a mouthful of freshkill. None the less, there was a secret power behind it. Something about the fire that glistened in his eyes assured even the most fool-hardy tom that Smallstar had not been made leader without reason. "Windclan has heard nothing from them. Perhaps Birchstar simply does not wish to join?"

The talking ceased as an elder yowled from the back of the cats. "Shadowclan's come!"

Almost immediately, the congregation parted as three cats came padding into the clearing, looking more like a funeral procession than a great clan going to a Gathering. All eyes scanned over the three and words were whispered between those gathered. Even the leaders could not help their curiosity as all eyes fell on the large tom leading his two clanmates.

Though there was an undeniable strength that rippled beneath the white tom's pelt, there was an unspeakable weariness there too. Each black paw lifted and set upon the ground seemed like a terrible labor and though he held his head high, his blue eyes were filled with a distracted, blurry haze as if he was only half-seeing all the things around him. Those who knew Blacktail mewed their greetings, but they fell on deaf ears. The tom seemed only fixated on reaching the spot reserved for him by the other deputies. On either side of him walked a small, brown apprentice and a large, black tom with overgrown canines that poked out from the sides of his lips. Neither looked to the other cats, but simply escorted their deputy to his spot and sat close by, casting earnest glances in his direction every so often, though they did not utter a sound.

The silence that fell upon the clearing was so deeply felt that every breath, every shuffle, every flick of a whisker sounded like thunder. All eyes watched the deputy as he very carefully sat down beside the others and curled his black tail about his paws. Only then did the haze vanish from his eyes and he looked up to the leaders with a silent, earnest plea to speak.

"Blacktail?" Springstar meowed, stepping up to the edge of the rock and peering into the darkness of Shadowclan territory, but these three were the only Shadowclan cats she could see. No others were entering the clearing after them. "Where is the rest of your clan? Where is Birchstar?"

The grief-ridden blue eyes that looked up into Springstar's froze her in her place. Blacktail took a moment, mouth agape, but not a sound coming out. His ears flattened against his head and he took the time to lick his chest to hide the pain he feared was all too plain on his face. The energy in the clearing was almost palpable as every cat hung on his movements, tense and waiting for a response that couldn't come fast enough.

Only once Blacktail was certain that he could go on did he raise his eyes to the gathered clans once more. "Birchstar is dead," the deputy reported in a voice that echoed across the clearing despite the grief laden within it. "I have come straight from sitting vigil…"

Cats around him yowled in dismay. The other deputies stood up in shock. Springstar and Rainstar both hung their heads with grief. Only when the clamor had slowly fizzled out and died did Rainstar dare to speak up, looking down towards the deputy with soft eyes, filled with nothing, but sympathy for the tom.

"I am sorry to hear this. Birchstar was always a close ally and a welcome sight at these gatherings-"

"And a welcome voice in times of trouble…" Springstar added softly, expression troubled as her mind wandered back to memories that were still far too fresh and brutal to recall.

"How did he come to pass…?" Smallstar requested tentatively. "He was old, but not terribly so. Rainstar and I have both walked this forest many more moons."

Another pause fell as Blacktail looked to the black tom who had accompanied him. The warrior nodded, hoping it would offer his friend some comfort as the deputy slowly rose to his paws and looked upon the clearing, his eyes hardening. He seemed to rise to his full height, then, fur bristling ever so slightly as he raised his voice, sounding less like one encumbered by grief with every word he spoke.

"That's just the thing," Blacktail began, teeth almost bared as he forced out each syllable. The grief within his eyes was slowly replaced with a fire, though his demeanor remained calm aside from his bristling hackles. "Birchstar was killed in our own territory…"

Murmuring began among those gathered, but Blacktail was determined to finish what he started.

"Not by a fox or a badger or monster!" He hissed, voice rising in volume until it bounced across the trees like the heavens themselves were laying judgement upon those assembled. "Storm has returned to the forest and claimed the last three of Birchstar's lives!"

The clearing echoed with chaotic shouts and cries of dismay. Every cat seemed determined to say their piece, shouting as if they wished for Starclan itself to quake with the clamor of their exclamations. "That's impossible!" "He was driven out!" "How can one rogue kill a leader in his own territory!?"

"Silence!" Rainstar bellowed and a hush fell almost instantly. "Let Blacktail speak," the leader advised more gently as he turned his gaze back to Blacktail who offered a slight nod in thanks. The tom turned his icy blue eyes on Springstar as he continued.

"I believe he plans to rid the forest of the clans once and for all… but that's not what troubles me the most…" The Shadowclan continued, unable to squelch the anger that continued to rise in his tone. "When we went back and examined the area, we caught another scent; one we are all, no doubt, familiar with…"

Springstar shifted uncomfortably, unsure why she of all cats should face the tom's fiery gaze, but his next words seemed to freeze her very soul.

"… Mapleclaw was with him."