Hi! This idea just sort of came to me randomly 9as all stories do). So, you know how on must fan-made pictures of Clan Leaders has a star somewhere on their body (mainly the forehead, most likely representing the "third eye")? Well, I took that and created this. It is set in the First Ark but it may go on to the next ones with many, many changes. Firestar is a she-cat in this. And don't worry about Alternate Path, I will still be working on it I just hit a few snags.

Anyways, on with the fic. Please read what is just below, as it will explain the Laws of my bracket idea, along with full summary.

Summary: Clan Leaders get nine lives from StarClan, that much we know. But what if there was more? When Leaders receive their nine lives, they also receive a bracket. Not a collar, but a bracket around their necks that shows their position as Leader in a more physical way. A little fire-ginger kittypet named Rose get curious about the wild forest cats, and enters a whole new world full of mystery, magic and romance. But how will she survive after she takes the Bracket of Brokenstar of ShadowClan?

Ideas/Laws of the Brackets:

-A Leader will always have their Bracket, even in death, unless their leadership is taken from them.

-A warrior can only have a Bracket if they defeat a Clan Leader in a fair fight and take their leadership position from them.

-A Leader cannot take another Leader's Bracket unless it is with good cause.

-A warrior cannot take another warriors earned Bracket. The only one who can is StarClan.

-When a warrior takes a Leader's Bracket, a bond is formed between the two until the Bracket is either cleansed of its previous owner, either by the warrior dying or becoming Leader themselves, or the warrior, when or if they become Leader, wishes for a new Bracket, or its former owner dies.

Into the Wild I

Rose couldn't believe her luck when she finally entered the forest near her home. The sights and smells were so new and confusing and wonderful to the little house-cat. Then she ran into a wild cat-a real live wild cat!-her own age, along with two older ones. And they asked her to join their Clan! Her! A common house cat who only wanted a look! She felt like she was walking on clouds as she walked home, tail high and a proud and happy look in her emerald eyes.

She was up promptly awake right at dawn, excitement tingling in her paws. She felt like she could run the whole way around the forest before the sun was at its highest point in the sky, when she was supposed to meet Lionheart again. But then her heart sank. She'd have to say good-bye to Smudge, who had been her friend for a long time. The good-bye was bittersweet, because they both knew that there was a very good chance that Rose would never go back to being a house cat after she experienced life in the wild. Sitting on her fence, she glanced at her garden for the last time before leaping into the shadowed forest.

She ran until she found the spot where she had met those three wild cats-Graypaw, Lionheart and Bluestar, she remembered. She could scent the stale smells of the three cats, but one was steadily growing stronger. She figured it was Lionheart, as Bluestar had said that Lionheart would return for her answer. She sat down and waited for the golden tabby. He arrived shortly after she did, and seemed surprised to see her for a second. Beside him was a white tom, his amber eyes gleaming with amusement.

Shortly afterward, she was running beside Lionheart and the white tom-Whitestorm. She was having trouble keeping up, mainly because she didn't know the forest as well as the two warriors. They reached a well defended clearing, which proved to be the camp. Cats were mingling around, resting for the most part, while mothers looked after their children. Bluestar was sitting on a very tall rock, watching the Clan with watchful blue eyes. When she noticed the three who had just entered, she gracefully leaped from the rock and walked up to them. As she spoke quietly with the two warriors about what they thought of Rose, she couldn't help but notice something she didn't even think of the night before. There was a bluish-gray collar-like thing around Bluestar's neck with a pure blue star-shaped charm.

The Clan Meeting that was called quickly went downhill. A pale tabby that Lionheart called Longtail continued to taunt her for her collar and past. She crouched while scanning the crowd, her tail thrashing wildly. Her gaze zeroed in on the offensive tom. She kneaded the ground, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. She wanted to make this as embarrassing as possible for the cocky tom. Rose let him go on for a moment, not enough to put her in a fury-that would be dangerous for both cats-but just enough so that she was still very angry.

When he was commenting about her not even surviving "leafbare" she leaped, surprising every cat near her. The battle that resulted was short before Longtail apparently got the idea to choke her with her collar. Hardly able to breathe, Rose started struggling before, with a loud snap, her collar broke and both cats were propelled away from each other. Bluestar called off the fight since Rose had lost her collar and was free from her twolegs, giving Rose the name Firepaw until she received her warrior name.

Firepaw, as she was now known as, quickly found Graypaw with a pale ginger she-cat and a dark brown tom slightly older than Graypaw himself. Firepaw wondered privately if they were also apprentices. Before she could greet the three cats, a small black tom with a white dash on his chest, white tail-tip and green eyes walked into the camp alongside an older dark brown tabby tom with smoldering amber eyes. On the tabby's back was a tortoiseshell cat, and Firepaw could only just see the tortoiseshell's dark ginger tail dragging behind in the dirt. The clan looked shocked at their appearance.

"What has happened?" Bluestar asked, her eyes on the tortoiseshell, whom was lowered to the ground by the tabby while the small black tom looked lost while going to a tunnel of ferns after a sharp look from the tabby.

"RiverClan patrol at Sunning Rocks. Oakheart and Redtail were fighting when rocks fell on them," the tabby commented, ears pinned down in grief. Several wails of grief and sadness echoed the statement and the dark brown tom and the pale ginger she-cat raced forward towards the dead tortoiseshell. Firepaw approached slowly, wondering slightly what the now dead warrior had looked like, before shaking her head and once again heading over to Graypaw. She couldn't help but notice the tabby going down the same fern tunnel that the black tom had gone a few minutes before.

She got the tour of the camp from Graypaw, learning more about Clan life and meeting a few cats. She learned that the tabby was called Tigerclaw and that the black tom was his apprentice Ravenpaw. But there was one thing bothering her.

"Graypaw?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"What's with the thing around Bluestar's neck?"

"You mean the Bracket?" Graypaw asked, somewhat surprised before shaking it off and explaining. "Well, when a deputy becomes leader, not only do they gain nine lives, they also gain a bracket, which represents their authority. Legend has it that a leader can only lose their bracket if a warrior takes that authority away and the warrior gains that bracket in return. Of course, that rarely ever happens."

"Oh, OK," Firepaw responded. She somehow got a very bad feeling about that conversation.

Okay, so how was that? For the duration of Into the Wild, no real plot will be made until the very end. For now, there will only be small snapshots of life.

Please review and tell me what you think. The second chapter is in progress.

~pokedawnheart