Birth of Starclan
This story is just a mini blurb explaining the origins of Starclan, which are featured in my story Patches, and explains where Starclan got the terrible dog's teeth. The territory of Starclan exists in a fictional city to the north of Shadowclan and Thunderclan's Lake home, along the Twoleg path, across the bridge and beyond the official map of the Warriors clans. Hope you enjoy it!
Slash, Thorn and Adder limped through the Twoleg nests, weary and sore; laden with tiny, precious bundles of life. When news had come back saying that Scourge had been slain, the three queens had made the decision to leave the Twoleg place. The toms in the remaining fragments of Bloodclan were all fighting for power among themselves; it was no place to raise kits. Hitching a ride in the back of a large monster, they had ridden until the beast had paused before clambering back out. They were in yet another Twoleg place, but far from the scent of Bloodclan. They were so heavy now with kits that they could barely hunt for themselves in this already strange and difficult place.
"I can't go on any more!" Adder gasped, and her legs gave out.
"Adder! Adder we can't stop here!" Slash pressed her muzzle to her friend's neck. "There's no food or shelter. There are strange cats everywhere here."
"No… I mean…" Adder gasped and a ripple rolled through her pelt.
"You kits?! Now?! But…." Thorn looked around frantically. "Here!"
Struggling to support Adder, the two queens helped Adder squeeze through a narrow hole in a twoleg nest and they stumbled down into a dusty place with hard floors and cobwebs everywhere.
Adder jerked and uttered a wail as she tried to settle down.
"Hey, what's going on down…" a stranger thrust his head into the gap and stared down at the scene with wide eyes. "Oh my!"
"Stay away!" Thorn snarled, desperation and fear causing her voice to crack. "Just… just stay away from us!"
Adder gasped as another contraction shook her swollen body.
"She's having kits? Wait right here, I'll get some help." The stranger withdrew and the sound of racing paws faded into the distance.
Help had to have been near, because Adder had only a few more contractions before another cat slithered into the room, lead by the stranger.
"My name is Moongaze," he introduced himself to the three queens, "I can help the kits come safely, if you'll let me."
Thorn narrowed her eyes and glared at him, but another pained whimper from Adder made her jerk her head in a curt nod. She flexed her claws anxiously, dogs teeth rasping on the hard floor and making a helpless, unsettled sound.
"Bushtail."
"Yes?" The stranger lifted his head at Moongaze's call.
"I need you to call in as many favors as you can. All three of these queens need soft nests for their kits to be born in. I also need fresh prey from anyone who can spare it. These three have traveled hard and they will need all the strength they can build before the rest of the kits come." Moongaze ran a paw reassuringly down Adder's pelt.
Thorn and Slash traded uncertain looks as Bushtail spun and raced away, chanting "Soft bedding, fresh prey. Soft bedding, fresh prey," under his breath.
As the day passed, more and more cats kept coming into the twoleg nest.
Nests of soft moss and velvety leaves grew, clustered together for the three queens.
"Hey." Rumbled a voice, and three powerful toms padded down into the sheltered nests, "Is this where… never mind." The lead tom's gaze rested on Adder and those cool, expressionless eyes softened. The three toms each dropped a freshly killed pigeon before the three queens.
"We thought these would be of help. Fresh meat and soft feathers all in one," explained the smallest of the three kindly.
"I said to myself, 'Wheat, those queens don't have Twolegs and they don't have mates. A real tom would know what to do.' And what do you know, I did." Wheat, the largest tom dipped his head slightly.
"Thank you," Adder whispered between contractions, "I've never been treated so kindly before."
Soft purrs rolled through the assembled cats, their eyes glowing softly in the dim light.
"The first one is coming." Moongaze's voice penetrated the soft noise, "Get ready to lick," he ordered Thorn, who's eyes widened as she edged carefully closer.
One by one, three tiny kits slipped into the soft nests. Licked dry and eagerly nursing, the tiny bundles of life didn't seem to notice the crowd of cats murmuring beyond their mother's warm fur.
"Two toms and a she-cat," Moongaze reported to the cats, who all craned their necks, eagerly hoping for a glimpse of the kits. "They are small, and very cute. A black tom and two brown siblings."
More purrs rolled through the assembled cats.
That night, the moon shone through the gap in the wall, off a reflective twolegger thing and filled the entire place with silver light. Pooling upon Moongaze's pelt, it turned his fur silver and stars seemed to gleam in his fur.
"A good sign," mewed an elderly she-cat. "A very good sign on the night of new life."
***
A quarter moon later, Thorn sighed as the last of her own kits was delivered. The strange city cats had yet to leave, each using the excuse of feeding the new mothers and keeping the bedding clean and fresh as reasons to stay. More than one cat asked the new queens for permission to help teach the kits to hunt and defend themselves.
Gazing down at the twin toms nursing at her side, Thorn knew that her kits would never know the horrors of Bloodclan. They would be raised among these strange, kind cats who had never once questioned their origins. They were a clan, yet so unlike Bloodclan that comparing the two was next to impossible.
Wheat, having hunted with his two friends as a group, was excellent at organizing the cats into clearing up the underground nest, making nests for the cats who chose to stay, and bringing fresh prey for those who could not hunt.
With a little squirming, and help from Wheat's strong teeth, Thorn shed her dog's teeth collar and removed them from her claws, shoving them into a crack in the wall of the nest. She no longer needed these blood stained remnants of her past. Three queens had brought a clan together, without ever knowing the real meaning of the word, and this clan did not need to devastate the lives of others.
Moongaze seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because as he was once again lit up by the pool of silvery light, he purred. "And thus, Starclan is born."