Birthday fic for my beloved forum (and its members!). Co-written with Rainclaw321.
Sorry for tense issues and the overuse of commas. We were both exhausted.
Happy birthday, TLC! Hope everyone enjoys reading the story.
This adventure takes place deep within the Great Fanfiction Forest. This is a place where the trees grow at whatever pace they please, birds and other stereotypical woodland creatures frolic, and where a legendary Clan has made their home. One might even say... the legendary Clan.
The sight that first greets a curious person who has wandered into the camp (after fighting their way through a frightening tunnel of sharp thorns) is of course Blackstorm, the mighty deputy. Instead of heroically sitting beneath the Highrock, yowling commands to the Clan, she is flopped in the middle of the clearing, snoring to her heart's content.
The second thing said curious person might see is the warriors den; a snug cave filled with a total of... two warriors, at the present moment. Swiftheart appears to be on another one of her hunting trips, but Specklefur and Birdsong are deep in conversation about music. They should probably be left alone.
In the medicine den, the Clan's loyal medicine cat, Cloudfoot, is excitedly babbling about the healthy benefits of spam to the young apprentice Flamepaw. As one might be able to see...
Oh.
It's Whitestar. Fabulous. Majestic. Perfect. And currently mumbling under her breath about how wonderful she is.
"Whitestar? Is there a problem?" Flamepaw asks (bravely, in Cloudfoot's opinion).
"Maybe," Whitestar says vaguely. "Do the huge cracks running through the centre of camp count as a problem?"
"Uh oh." Cloudfoot races out of the medicine cat den, yowling for Specklefur and Birdsong to join her.
Cloudfoot comes to a halt in front of the huge cracks gouged deep within the earth, which stretch across the centre of the camp. Specklefur and Flamepaw are forced to jump back to avoid being swallowed up by the ground.
However, Blackstorm, who has yet to awaken from her slumber, continues to snore, even as a crack sneakily creeps towards her.
"Blackstorm!" Whitestar cries. Just as the deputy opens one sleepy eye, the crack splits the earth beneath her. Blackstorm tries to leap towards solid ground, but jumping off of splitting rock is harder than warrior training makes it out to be. Misjudging the leap, she's soon dangling off the edge by her forepaws.
"Help!" she mews pitifully, scrambling at the ground for a better hold.
Birdsong rushes forwards, but she's too late. Blackstorm falls, yowling helplessly as she falls into the abyss.
"No!" the cello-loving warrior yells, leaping forwards. Before she can figure out how to follow Blackstorm, she's yanked back by the scruff of her neck.
"If you fall too, you're not helping anyone," Whitestar hisses, completely serious (for once). She nods for Birdsong to go into the medicine den, where the rest of the Clan have already taken shelter.
Huddled in the den, the Clan watches with wide eyes as the cracks slowly but surely come to a halt. After waiting a few minutes, and deciding that the coast was as clear as it was ever going to be, Whitestar bounds towards the centre of camp, where the largest crack lay. The rest of the Clan follow cautiously.
Whitestar peers down the hole curiously, thinking of her options. She nods and the Clan gather around her like kits ready for a story, waiting for their noble leader to come to a decision. As she ponders, they look at her with admiration. Admiration for her fearlessness. Admiration for her intelligence. Admiration for her ability to come up with foolproof plans –
"We'll have to jump down. Follow her."
Silence.
There was only silence, mixed with a dash of disbelief as all hopes for a proper rescue mission were crushed. Their hopes and dreams of saving their deputy were ruined.
Amberpaw is the first to break the silence. "Do we really need Blackstorm? Why should we risk what little life we have in this Clan to save just one cat?"
"Blackstorm is your mentor," Cloudfoot hisses, horrified. "And your deputy!" She promptly bursts into tears. "Little amount of life? Of course we have so little Clan members, if that's the kind of loyalty we show!"
"Amberpaw was only thinking of the rest of the Clan. She didn't mean anything like that," Flamepaw says, taking pity on the poor, overworked medicine cat.
Whitestar sighs. "Amberpaw may be right, but we'll have to go after Blackstorm anyway. She'll eventually find her way back to the Clan, since she's such a stubborn bastard, and then we'll never hear the end of it if we didn't even try to get her back."
"Oh."
"Ah."
"Damn."
The Clan all nod in understanding.
Purring, Whitestar puffs out her chest (unnecessarily, but she thinks it makes her look like more of a noble leader) and yowls, "It has been decided! A patrol of brave, fit and loyal Warriors will go on the quest to save our deputy! Any volunteers?"
Silence.
"No? Alright. Specklefur, Birdsong, you'll come with me. And Cloudfoot, in case of medical emergencies." Whitestar was very proud of herself.
"But that means we'll be alone at camp by ourselves!" Flamepaw complains, and Amberpaw nods her head furiously.
"Of course," Whitestar says. "Apprentices always get left behind. You'll get over it."
"But-"
"Let's go!" Whitestar turns and leaps head first into the abyss without waiting for any more whining.
Ever the loyal warrior, Specklefur leaps in after her almost immediately (perhaps briefly pausing to roll her eyes) and Cloudfoot and Birdsong soon follow.
Amberpaw kicks at the dust with her paw. Flamepaw sighs.
'Ah, the feel of air rushing past my whiskers is quite a delightful feeling,' Specklefur thinks, before she crashes into the ground.
Due to StarClan's interference, of course, no cat is harmed.
"Huh. It was almost like landing on a pillow," Cloudfoot muses.
Whitestar nods and the group continues on, through a mysterious passage lit by beautiful, glowing gems.
After a lot of walking and a few scuffles with the magical creatures living around the rocks, they reach a large cave.
"Blackstorm?" Whitestar says, voice filled with hope as she sees a black cat with its back facing to them.
The rest of the Clan cheers and the black cat jumps in surprise before turning around. Horror flashes in her yellow eyes.
"Blackstorm!" Whitestar meows, running dramatically towards her friend in slow motion. Blackstorm, also moving in slow motion, stands up and attempts to run for it.
"What is she doing?" Specklefur asks, purring in amusement. "I know Blackstorm hates it when Whitestar tries to tackle her, but you'd think she'd be glad that we're rescuing her."
Then, they hear a rumbling noise.
"Is that...?"
"Is it?"
"Whitestar's rage?"
"IS THIS FRESHKILL?"
The yowl echoes off the cave walls, and the warriors flinch. They hurry around the corner to see Whitestar towering over the deputy, who was mumbling out a response.
"YOU HAD NOTHING BETTER TO DO? WE WALKED FOR HOURS TO FIND YOU! AND NOW YOU'RE REALLY, REALLY FAT!"
It was true. Blackstorm had put on a fair bit of weight since they'd last seen her.
"I-I-I caught it all myself," Blackstorm manages to say.
"I DON'T CARE IF YOU CAUGHT IT ALL YOURSELF! STARCLAN, BLACKSTORM, YOU'RE AS FAT AS MY OLD AVATAR!"
"There's no need to use caps lock, Whitestar-"
"I CAN USE CAPS LOCK WHENEVER I LIKE."
"She's completely lost it," Cloudfoot mutters to Specklefur and Birdsong.
"This should be fun to watch, at least," Birdsong says, shrugging.
And thus the legendary Clan's adventure ended. Eventually. After Whitestar had stopped yelling. But while the adventure had been strange and odd, those were the moments that really allowed a Clan to bond, and become a family.
Some moons later.
The surface.
The camp was a complete wreck. Branches, leaves and other annoying objects were strewn all across the camp. The giant cracks had not yet left. The camp had seen better days.
Flamepaw and Amberpaw sat in the warriors' den, playing checkers.
"Man," Flamepaw said, moving one of her pieces across the board. "I bet they're having heaps of fun down there."
"Yeah..." Amberpaw agreed, also moving a piece. "Wish we could have gone with them."
Flamepaw sighed, glancing at the board before flipping it over in disgust. "You'd think after moons of playing nothing but checkers, I'd have developed some skill. But no. You always win."
"Chess?" Amberpaw suggested.
"Nah," Flamepaw said. "We should put on some music. Where's Specklefur's iPod? I hope she didn't take it with her. She might have some decent music on there. Who knows?"
"I say we just raid Whitestar's den and use her laptop."
"Sounds good."
