Chapter 1: Isolation

Well, hi there! This is my first fic. The idea came to me when I was on an oceanographic expedition and all I had to read was Warriors. Basically, this is an AU where the clans decided to stay in the old forest. I thought it would be an interesting concept to write about. Cheers!

All she could hear was the yowling of her clanmates as they fled from the twolegs grasping claws. Mothwing cowered in the shelter of the Medicine Den as cats she knew from the time she was only known as Moth were snatched away and put in cages. It seemed as though the sounds of the twolegs' chattering mingled with her friends cries would never cease. In the span of minutes Riverclan's once populous camp had been reduced to a sole occupant. She peeked out from under the roof of the den and saw the last of the cages being placed inside a large white monsterwith twolegs climbing into it. The monster's roar silenced her clans calls and it sped away with its huge black paws. As the roar faded in the distance Mothwing, exhausted by the events that had transpired, fell into a fitful sleep.

~•~•~•~

When the golden tabby awoke the sun was just dipping below the horizon. The events before her rest replayed in her head and she began to sob as the memory of her brother's terrified face before he was scooped up by a twoleg and shoved into a crate. Hawkfrost was the last cat in River Can she had been close too. Ever since Mudfur had died only three days ago she had felt utterly alone in her nest. Though he had been ambitious and had faked a sign from StarClan she still loved her brother. The only person she trusted as much as him or Mudfur had been Leafpaw.

Her eyes widened as she thought of the ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice. Had Leafpaw's clan been subjected to the same treatment as her own? Before she could race out of the medicine den thoughts of twolegs grabbing her with their claws filled her head. she cautiously peeked out from the den and, seeing no sign of twolegs, she dashed out towards the river that bordered RiverClan and ThunderClan.

It only took her moments to cross the river when she reached it. Her strong paws easily cutting through the water and propelling her forward. She slipped out of the river at the base of Sunningrocks, a small piece of territory that was heavily contested between the two clans that it lied on the border of. She had reached the forest in only a few strides as she weaved between the trees. She came upon a clearing of stumps and slowed to walk. She realized that the twolegs had taken their monsters deep into ThunderClan territory and cut down the trees they had hunted under for many moons. Panic blossomed in her chest. When Fourtrees was cut down the Clans had fallen into despair. The cats that had returned from the journey to the Sun-Drown Place had insisted that the Clans needed to flee and that the sign of a dead warrior would lead the way.

Leopardstar had not been keen on the idea of leaving. Mudfur was passing away and RiverClan had generally been left untouched by the twolegs. ThunderClan refused to leave without all four Clans and ShadowClan had been decimated by the twolegs. Blackstar and Russetfur were the only cats to escape and sought out refuge in WindClan. WindClan left the very next day along with the two ShadowClan refugees. They hadn't heard from ThunderClan in the next few days as neither clan sent out border patrols.

Mothwing came to a stop a few fox-lengths from the entrance to the ThunderClan camp. Her thoughts seemed to have carried her all the way there. She saw that the brambles that had served as a barrier for the camp had been torn away and most of the surrounding trees had been replaced by stumps. Mothwing's heart sunk into her stomach at the thought of Leafpaw trapped in a cage trying to claw her way out. She crept her way towards and into the ruined camp.

~•~•~•~

Before Mothwing was a scene she wished was unfamiliar to her. Dens completely demolished and a distinct absence of cats. The Highrock that had once stood proud was demolished into sharp rubble spread around a small are. She was ready to turn around and depart from the ruined camp when she heard a quiet groaning from the ruins of the Medicine Den. Reinvigorated, Mothwing sprinted to the demolished den and began digging through the scattered branches and brambles.

"Leafpaw?" She called, "Is that you in there?"

All that answered her was another groan. After a few moments of fruitless digging she managed to catch sight of some fur. Excited at the prospect of saving at least one cat from the horrible twolegs Mothwing scrabbled at the branches with increased vigor. When she had cleared all the debris away she caught sight of large, brown, tabby tom.

"Brambleclaw? Are you ok?"

"Mothwing, what are you doing here? Where is everyone?" The words seemed like a whisper from his lips. He tried to sit up but stopped halfway with a grimace painted on his face. Brambleclaw slowly slumped back down to the ground.

"RiverClan is gone," Mothwing meowed quietly. "I came to see if ThunderClan suffered the same fate."

"It has." Was his curt reply. He rolled onto one side, exposing a deep gash on his belly. It had crusted over with an infected scab. Mothwing immediately continued digging through the debris of the Medicine Den.

"Maybe I can find something for that gash in here. Any idea where Cinderpelt keeps her herbs?"

"I think any herbs that were in there are too crushed up to be of any use now."

Mothwing stopped sifting through the branches at Brambleclaw's words. She glanced down again at his wound and sat down with a heavy thump.

"I can't just do nothing for you. Maybe I can gather some moss and get you water. You must be so thirsty. How long were you trapped under there?"

Brambleclaw closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "When the twolegs came, I tried to get everyone out to safety. Then one large twoleg grabbed me and lifted me high of the ground. I bit and scratched it and that caused it to throw me away. I fell onto one of those shards of the Highrock and it cut my belly open. I crawled into the Medicine Den when it collapsed on top of me. That was two days ago."

Mothwing shoots up and yowls, "two days? And you've not gotten anything to drink in that time? If that cut was deep it may already be too late for you..." As she trailed off her gaze moved to the ground and sobs began to shake her body.

"Mothwing, it's ok. You tried to help but sometimes you can't save everyone."

"It's worse because you're kin Brambleclaw. And you only found out not too long ago." Mothwing's voice quivered as she spoke, heavy with emotion.

Brambleclaw rested his head onto his paws and spoke softly, "I suppose if you want to help me sister, you can get me some poppy seeds to ease my passing. Those shouldn't be too hard to find."

Mothwing wordlessly got up and began searching for poppy seeds nearby the camp. When she returned it was well into the night and Brambleclaw was still awake and wincing every once in awhile. She passed him three seeds and he quickly licked them up. She settled down next to him as he slowly faded into unconsciousness. Their long tabby pelts brushed against each other as her body was once again wracked with sobs. She fell into yet another fitful sleep.

~•~•~•~

The sound of twolegs tromping through the underbrush woke her. She opened her eyes and quickly scrabbled into the bushes in the opposite direction of the noise. Once in the safety of the bush she peeked out to see what was happening. The sun glared into her eyes forcing her to squint to see.

Three twolegs entered into what was once the ThunderClan camp. One of them jumped when they saw Brambleclaw's slumped body lying next to the Medicine Den. The twoleg that noticed him picked up a long stick and poked his body with it. Mothwing had to bite back a yowl of protest at the treatment of her brother's body. The twolegs all seemed unsure of what to do with Brambleclaw and resolved to pick him up and carry him back the way they came.

With the last of her siblings taken from her, the finality of the situation started bearing down on Mothwing. Her only remaining kin was her mother Sasha who had abandoned her and her brother in RiverClan. She only recently came back and managed to tell Firestar about her heritage. Now Mothwing was alone and she had no desire to see that she-cat.

With new resolution Mothwing stood and marched towards WindClan territory. When they left none of the other clans went with them but now Mothwing was desperate to find another clan cat. Maybe she could follow the scent trails and find WindClan.

~•~•~•~

Mothwing had found a stale trail leading up past Highstones but as she was beginning to follow it the sky began to pour down a torrent of rain, forcing her to seek shelter. Instinctively she headed into Mothermouth and padded deeper into the cave until she came too the faintly glowing Moonstone. It seemed that even in the midst of the storm, some moonlight shone down through the hole in the ceiling.

A snarl formed on Mothwing's muzzke as she started to speak, "what good did my clanmates belief do? This is why believing in our dead ancestors that guide and help us is foolish. They clearly have no power even if they do exist and what good are a bunch of dead cats with nothing to offer."

Faint whispers seemed to echo through the cave sending shivers up Mothwing's spine. She slowly padded towards the Moonstone as she heard an ethereal voice call out from within it.

"Oh how foolish you are my apprentice. To see with only your eyes and not with your heart."

"Mudfur?" Came Mothwing's startled cry, "I must be going crazy, you're dead!"

"While grief has made you bitter my apprentice, I can assure you of your sanity'" Mudfur's voice emanated once again from the stone. It was moments later when a light brown tom emerged from the stone, though he was slightly transparent.

"Why only show yourself to me now? Why only after all this calamity?"

"StarClan has seen that you will become the last survivor of the Clans. StarClan is now depending solely on you to carry on its legacy and pass on the belief to other cats far and wide."

"I don't understand! The last survivor? But surely the cats from WindClan will live on."

"Their journey is doomed from the start. Without the cooperation of all four Clans there is no way to complete the journey safely. The few that survive will peter out and die lonely deaths in darkness. StarClan calls upon you Mothwing, to have us live on in you."

"Mudfur I don't think I can take that responsibility. I need time to think about this."

"Very well. Commune with us tomorrow night," he said, "I truly hope you will accept this task."

Mothwing mumbled an unsure reply and settled down to sleep. It was only moments before the sounds of raindrops faded away into nothingness.

Hope you liked it! I plan on updating this occasionally and I don't have the entire story planned out. I have a rough outline of some events that I want to have happen. Hopefully I'll get better at writing and can come back and edit any chapters that are sub par. Cheers!