The day was dark and dreary for Sunclan. Thick, heavy clouds scudding across the sky. Rain pelting down relentlessly, not wishing to ease anytime soon. And not a hint of warmth. The cats were soaked through, seeking shelter in any place they could fit. That is, except for the kits.
The little bundles of fur were leaping in the wide puddles, crying out in glee as they splashed about. The leader, from his high den in the rocks, watched with amusement. Today was not a day to punish youngsters for doing what they did. They were allowed to play for today, left alone to face the punishments later.
If not for overprotective mothers. Three of them came running from a dripping den, and swept the kits back to safety. Soft little protests filled the air, only hushed by gentle scolding. Once inside, the three mothers began to lick their children thoroughly, getting the wet pelts dry. The kits, as rambunctious as usual, wriggled and tried to squirm away. To no avail though, as the three she-cats made sure there was no way out.
Once the task was done, they were allowed out of the hold, but not out of the den. Now bored out of their young minds, the little ones tried to find something else to do. Play moss-ball- stopped because of the little space. Play tag- once more halted due to no room. Tussle about- too rough for the mothers' liking. And finally giving up in defeat with little huffs.
To ease the dismal tone, one of the mothers stepped forth. A kind and fair young warrior named Fernwing. "Now now, little fighters. Don't be down. For on this day of little shine, is a special time," came the coo of the she-cat as she settled down in front of them.
Attention captured by her mysterious words, the kits turned to her with gleaming eyes. "What special time, miss Fernwing?" mewed one of the kits, a polite young lad named Lakekit. They all nodded in agreement, tilting their heads in strange sync.
"Oh, just story time," she meowed with a smile.
Instantly, the bundles of fur were upon her. "Story time! Story time!" they cried in a high-pitched chorus.
Laughing and laughing, the mother gave each little face a look. "Alright, alright! But you must settle down first-" shuffling noises, and suddenly all the kits were huddled together, wide eyes staring up at her. "-okay good! Now, this story is before the time of Sunclan!-" collected gasps from the tiny mouths. "-yes, quite surprising indeed! And it all started on a quite horrible day..."
Flashback
Two armies. Four clans. Countless cats.
They were face to face on a desolate patch of land. Narrowed eyes gleaming as the sun beat down on their furry backs. Rumbled growls and unsheathing claws. Tension filled the air. Then suddenly, a wild battle cry. It came from one of the leaders. Many paws surged forwards with their own yowls and shrieks.
The clash of bodies, the lock of claws, and the frenzied bites. A war had begun.
Sunrunner, a orange tabby tom with bright green eyes from Shadowclan, was in the heat of battle with some scrawny Windclan warrior. It was rather short; with him ending up scaring the small cat away with a nearly-fatal slice to the throat. How they got away, he'd never know. What he did know, though, was that this was a terrible time.
Sure, the clans fought time and time again, but never had there been such ferocity in the strikes. It was a totally different experience. With the noises ringing in his ears, the stench of blood and death wrinkling his nose. Nothing like border scrambles.
It was then someone noticed he was just standing there, and launched towards him with quick speed. Another Windclan cat, he guessed, given the skinny body, short fur, and alarming pace. Dodging to the side just as the blow came near, he turned on the cat and let out a yowl. They yowled as well, and met him as he attempted to strike down on their head. Strong for such a small thing, the tom thought with a grunt, forcing the cat back with a ram on the shoulder.
The cat staggered and fell, winded and delirious. He took his chance and plunged a firm paw on its neck, sneering down into its face. Scared out of its wits, the Windclan cat attempted to go limp, but he didn't fall for it. Harshly shoving the cat away, he let out a low growl and frightened it away. This is terrible, and completely crazy. But yet, I keep doing it.
It went on like that for a while. Sunrunner fighting off more cats and sending them fleeing. He gained a few cuts in the process, but no one was able to score anything major. Though he enjoyed not being torn to shreds, he hated how long the war kept going. Someone's got to do something! Or else we are all going to drop. From blood loss or exhaustion.
That's when, the Shadowclan tom finally decided enough was enough. Pushing and shoving, clawing through the crowd of fighting cats, he made his way towards the tallest rock he could find. Taking a quick glance around, he began to scramble up.
Once atop the boulder, he swept his gaze across the warring cats and frowned. Then, sucking in a large breath, got ready to screech. "STOP!" came his scream, somehow abruptly stopping all the little battles between the cats. They all turned their attention towards him with wide, tired eyes, as if he were mad.
"Stop!" he repeated, just in case any of them were thinking of starting again. "This has got to stop! Don't you all see how stupid it is? Fighting for... What are we even fighting over!? Last time I checked, it was for no reason! Yea, no reason! So, lives gone to waste just so you can get the taste of blood in your mouth and coat your fur in red?"
There was an astonished silence, all the cats mulling over what the orange tabby had said. Then, they all ducked their heads in shame. They all knew their wrongdoings now. Satisfied by this, he nodded. "Now, what are we going to do about it? Surely we can't forget about it. Which means we must build from it! I say, we start a new era, where there is no blood lost and lives wasted. There will be a single leader, one that rules a single clan! There will be different ranks, and yes, it might be confusing for a while... But this senseless violence must stop!"
"So, who's with me!"
For several, long, drawn out moments, no one said a thing. They looked at him skeptically, but he could see that they were thinking. Finally, someone stepped forward. It was a short, beat up and bleeding white she-cat. Wide, orange eyes, but a thoughtful smile.
"I'm with you."
End Flashback
"...after that, more cats were willing. More cats stepped up. They accepted his plan, and crowned him the leader. The new clan was called Sunclan, and our first leader was Sunstar," as Fernwing concluded the story, she was met with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
"That was awesome!"
"I can't believe how brave Sunstar was!"
"Again again!"
The kits meowed and squealed with excitement, as the rain started to ease and the sun peeked through the clouds, basking the camp with light.
[ Sunclan ]
Leader: Archstar - brown tabby tom with pale yellow eyes
Deputy: Yellowclaw - cream-and-white tom with bright green eyes
[ Warriors ]
Battle Division
Tamarackleap - Dark grey tom with yellow eyes
Foxtail - grey-and-white tom with orange eyes
Streamfang - light grey she-cat with blue eyes
Adderclaw - tan classic-tabby tom with yellow eyes
Juniperbreeze - ruddy she-cat with amber eyes
Hawkfall - brown-and-white tabby tom with amber eyes
Amberbriar - golden spotted she-cat with dark green eyes
Kittiwakeclaw - white she-cat with grey tabby-patches and amber eyes
Birchshade - black tom with a white chest and paws. Dark green eyes.
Guard Division
Sootfoot - dark grey tabby tom with amber eyes
Icewind - tall white tom with pale blue eyes
Rillheart - brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Wrenclaw - light brown she-cat with blue eyes
Waspstrike - light brown tom with blue eyes
Leopardcreek - golden spotted-tabby she-cat with yellow eyes
Hunting Division
Featherspark - orange mackerel-tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Wolfcloud - black tom with amber eyes
Eeltooth - black tom with yellow-green eyes
Pricklevine - dark brown tabby tom with spiky fur and yellow eyes
Snowpounce - white she-cat with pale flecks and bright blue eyes
Flightpath - grey she-cat with darker patches and bright blue eyes
Healing Division
Aspenfur - white tom with grey flecks and dark amber eyes
Honeysong - cream spotted-tabby she-cat with light blue eyes
Linnetberry - brown tabby she-cat with orange eyes
[ Apprentices ]
Rapidpaw - pure white tom with pale yellow-green eyes
Cherrypaw - calico-tabby she-cat with green eyes
Emberpaw - tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes
[ Queens ]
Dawnmist - dark orange tabby she-cat with icy blue eyes (Kits: Blazekit, Maplekit, and Littlekit)
Mothfrost - light grey speckled she-cat with amber eyes (Kits: Blizzardkit, Jasminekit, Pebblekit, Stonekit, and Thawkit)
Ivymist - mostly-white she-cat with grey tabby patches and dark blue eyes (Kit: Galekit)
[ Kits ]
Blizzardkit - grey-and-white speckled tom with golden eyes
Jasminekit - pure white she-cat with yellow eyes
Pebblekit - light grey spotted-tabby tom with blue-green eyes
Stonekit - grey tom with green eyes
Thawkit - very pale tom with large splotches of white and mint-green eyes
Blazekit - dark orange tom with cream and brown markings. Blue eyes.
Maplekit - light brown and white she-cat with darker markings and olive green eyes
Littlekit - small, brown, long-haired she-cat with pale green eyes
Galekit - light grey mackerel-tabby she-cat with peachy-orange eyes
[ Elders ]
Liongorse - tan tom with green eyes
[ Cats Outside the Clan ]
None so far.
Hope you enjoyed!
No flames, this is my first story. Though reviews and helpful critique are welcome.