Oh boy.
Haven't written a fanfiction in many, many years. So I'm not sure how this is gonna turn out.
I threw this idea out in the open in the Kittycat Hell Discord server, owned by Moonkitti, before it closed. RIP that fantastic place. Picking this up all these months later after a surge of inspiration. Unfortunately, I have a history of abandoning projects, from Minecraft builds to Discord games, so…
Well then! Let's see how this ride goes!
(Not sure why people state they don't own the thing they write about. Was that a trend or something?
It started with a dream, because of course it did.
Things were going so well for Tawnypelt. After going on the big journey to the sun-down place and back, she had led her clan to their new home. It wasn't all good – on the original journey, they lost Feathertail to the Sharpclaw, of course, and when the clans made the trip Smokepaw fell into a ravine, never to be seen again – but they had made it, mostly intact, and had scouted out a new home. It was similar to their old one – surrounded by shady pine trees, with a small twoleg settlement up north. Things, for the first time in a while, were looking up.
Of course, things couldn't always be so simple, could they?
Tired out after the entire ordeal, not to mention scouting out the clans' new lakeside home, she had hoped for a rest as she collapsed into the makeshift den. That was, until she found herself in a dark forest, at night, with no moon out. The ambience was ominous, foggy and generally unnerving.
This couldn't be… no… but why?
Looking around, she immediately saw her brother, Brambleclaw, in addition to two RiverClan cats, who she believed to be Hawkfrost and Mothwing. And then, in front of all of them…
Oh… well, considering that we are in a dark forest, and the cat in front looks like a spirit instead of a living cat such as us, that must be…
"Hello, my brethren."
That confirmed it.
"For the two who did not know me while I was alive, I am Tigerstar, your father. And as for the other two, I am sure no introduction is needed."
A mix of emotions ran through Tawnypelt. Anger, fear, curiosity, terror, and many more. She looked over at her brother, and that simple, small glance confirmed that he felt just as conflicted.
"You may wonder why I have summoned you here today, at this time. After much deliberation, I have decided to make an offer you will not decline. If you do…" As he trailed off, he unsheathed his claws, and threateningly pointed them at each cat in front of him. "You will face a fate much worse than death."
The tension skyrocketed even higher than it was before. Tawnypelt managed to get a quick glance towards the other three cats. Mothwing looked aghast, while Hawkfrost actually looked quite intrigued.
"I will train you to be a better fighter. In fact, to be the greatest fighters in all of the clans. As well, I will teach you and encourage you to achieve great things, such as becoming leader of your clan."
He paused.
"So what will your decision be?"
Hawkfrost was the first, jumping at the opportunity with a quick step forward. "I will accept your offer. I have been told stories of your fighting prowess, and I look forward to being taught parts of it."
His sister, meanwhile, shrunk down. "I… I don't think I'd accept. This is great, but – but I'm actually training to become a medicine cat…"
Immediately, Hawkfrost jumped at her. "What, are you scared?", which was eventually weakly responded to with "No! I… I just don't think it's for me."
"Very well then," Tigerstar began, "your fate is sealed. And what about you two, the ones who saw my conquests first-hand?"
An uneasy silence ensued. Sister and brother looked at each other. After awhile, Brambleclaw spoke first.
"I think… I think I'll take you up on your offer."
"What?", Tawnypelt exclaimed, "How could you! You know Tigerstar. You've seen him in action. What he's done. How he will kill cats and break the code to his wants. You can't go down this path!" This seemed to shake her brother, but he held firm.
"Well, I think there is still something to gain here. And while I absolutely do not trust Tigerstar," as he shot a glare at his father, "I can still learn something from him. Not to mention… I'm not sure if I'd want to incur his wrath. You've seen firsthand what can happen, how ruthless he is – don't you think that should be avoided?" Brambleclaw was now full on yelling at his sister. Both of them stubbornly stood steady, as Tigerstar watched on.
"Let her go. She can go down this path of no return if she wants," Tigerstar mewed. At the same time, he unsheathed his claw once again, and made a slicing motion over his neck while glaring at Tawnypelt. She wondered for a moment whether she had made the right decision but quickly regained her composure.
"I will not allow you to taint me. While you will take power by any means necessary, I will only become leader if StarClan allows me to." And with that, she walked away, into the depths of the dark forest. Mothwing followed her.
"Very well then. We will start our training tomorrow," Tigerstar replied, sinking back into the forest, away from the sight of Brambleclaw & Hawkfrost. "And as for those two… I will get my warriors to deal with them."
At the same time, Leafpaw also was dreaming, conversing with entirely different spirits.
"Of course, we have brought you here for no reason." She did not know the cat who was in front of her, but it seemed like the other cat who was summoned did.
"Indeed. Do you have a prophecy to tell us, Goldenflower?"
"Yes, Littlecloud. I can see your sharp mind. Your former clanmates told me of it. Anyways, this prophecy says:
'Four cats of kin must fight against blood, to save the Clans from terror.'"
Hmm, Leafpaw thought, what does this mean?
"Is there anything else you can tell us?", asked Littlecloud.
"I am afraid not. You must figure out which cats this prophecy this pertains to on your own." And with that, she walked away, fading into the sky.
Okay, so this first chapter is set riiiiiiiight after Starlight starts, but before Tallstar dies. I plan to go right to the end of Sunset with this fic. Events here will replace the canon Bramble-Hawk-Tiger storyline, but will otherwise run parallel to canon.
Please review I haven't written anything like this in forever I need criticism
Also I just figured out that I need to add line breaks in the document editor and not Microsoft Word, I am dumb