I pray that this will turn out to be a one-shot!!! I need this to be a one-shot, I can't handle another one-shot-that-somehow-turned-into-a-freaking-mini-series!!!
Just another idea that won't leave my head!! A divergence Au from the main series; Heart of Fire
O0O0O
RiverClan
Leader: Crookedstar—a huge light-colored tabby with a twisted jaw.
Deputy: Oakheart—a reddish brown tom.
Medicine cat: Mudfur-long-haired light brown tom.
Warriors
Leopardfur-unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat. Apprentice, Whitepaw
Blackclaw-smoky black tom. Apprentice, Heavypaw
Stonefur-gray tom with battle-scarred ears. Apprentice, Shadepaw
Loudbelly-dark brown tom. Apprentice, Silverpaw
Mistyfoot-dark gray she-cat. Apprentice, Morningpaw
Frogleap-gray tom with a striped tail.
Ottersplash- sleek, pale ginger she-cat with white patches and a torn ear. Apprentice, Mosspaw
Owlfur-brown-and-white tom. Apprentice, Emberpaw
Apprentices
Whitepaw-dark brown tom with snowy-white paws.
Heavypaw-brown tabby tom.
Shadepaw-dark gray she-cat.
Silverpaw-silver-and-black tabby she-cat.
Morningpaw -pretty ginger she-cat with jade green eyes.
Mosspaw-tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat.
Emberpaw-dark ginger she-cat.
Queens
Greenflower is a brown-striped she-cat with a white splash under her chin.
Elders
Graypool-thin gray she-cat with patchy fur and a scarred muzzle.
O0O0O
When Rock had warned Firestar that things would be different with the chance of a second do-over of his past life, Firestar wasn't expecting just how much of a difference things were going to be-
Firestar's, now Morningpaw, first issue was waking up in his original Twoleg nest as a she-cat. Once the panic over the new anatomy change subsided a bit, gathering information from her childhood friend Smudge, and rushing into ThunderClan's territory earlier than expected, the second issue occurred; Instead of it being Graypaw who Firestar had originally encountered the first time that Firestar had ever entered the forest, it had been Dustpaw of all cat's, Dustpaw who hated Firestar as an apprentice. Though it only got worse when Firestar's old enemy Darkstripe, who completely despised Firestar's very existence, stepped out behind him with Longtail, everything went as well as her sinking gut told her they would go.
Firestar had laughably easily sent Dustpaw racing into the bushes. However when ganged up against both Darkstripe and Longtail, two grown experienced warriors much bigger and taller than Firestar remembered them being, Firestar had no choice but to flee, but Firestar wasn't fleeing back to her Twolegs and a life of a kittypet, no way in StarClan, instead the smaller female version of Firestar's past self had attempted to find her way to ThunderClan's camp and beg Bluestar to let her join.
That of course didn't go as planned seeing as Darkstripe and Longtail continuously forced her further and further away from ThunderClan's camp, managing to go all the way to Sunningrocks. It was amongst the smooth flat rocks that the, technically older, ThunderClan warriors caught up to her. Longtail jumped on Firestar and sent them rolling in a tangle of biting and scratching. Firestar lost her kittypet collar in the shuffle.
They rolled all the way down to the pebbly shallow edge of the river, their pelts getting wet and giving them a harder time keeping a grip on the other. It was a struggle only broken by Darkstripe who pulled Longtail off of Firestar, for a confusing moment of wondering why the dark tabby warrior had put a stop to the fight, Darkstripe rounded on the newly reborn ThunderClan leader and forcibly knocked Firestar into the fast flowing river.
Firestar didn't know how to swim, why should she learn when living her entire life in a lush green forest and rarely needing to be around water? And the regret she felt in that moment for not taking the time and opportunity was costing her the second life given to her.
As she felt her lungs about to collapse, a watery grave inevitable, and imagining some unlucky soul finding her waterlogged corpse, Firestar felt a biting pain flare up from the scruff of her neck.
Firestar was yanked upwards, towards the surface and once her head was above water, Firestar sucked in as much air as possible, while spluttering out water in the same breath. Firestar was pulled towards the riverbank by a gray blob that Firestar could barely focus on, her eyes drifting close even though she tried to keep them open, there was murmuring all around her that slowly faded out as she slowly lost consciousness.
0o0o0o
Firestar regained consciousness much later when she woke up in a tangle of reeds covered by a hard reedy roof, the deen smelled strongly of herbs and when she became more clear headed she noticed that she wasn't alone, a long-haired light brown tom was murmuring quietly to himself, completely unaware that Firestar was even awake. Firestar didn't know whether to make her presence known or simply sneak out the den while the tom was distracted by whatever he was doing.
Firestar's second option was dashed as the largest cat Firestar had ever seen pushed their way into the den. The sleek-furred, broad head and shouldered dark reddish-brown tom was magnificent and someone who Firestar had never seen before. There was an easygoing twinkle in his clear amber eyes that softened when they fell upon Firestar who laid frozen in place. These cats might have helped her but who knows why that is?
"I see you are awake." The unknown tom rumbled, drawing the attention of the other tom.
"Huh -wha- oh!" The light brown tom turned to face Firestar, finally realizing that she was awake and went right to work. "I need you to take a few deep breaths for me." The cat ordered as the one that had just entered made the introduction;
"My name is Oakheart," the cat, Oakheart, began in explanation, "you are currently in Riverclan and the cat that is overlooking your well-being is our sweet, kind and most sof-"
Golden eyes flashed in irritation as Mudfur stopped for a moment to snap at Oakheart over his shoulder, "Stop playing around and explain things right. Otherwise I'll send you out of here so fast that your whiskers will be left behind."
Oakheart's whiskers twitched in amusement as he carried on, "Mudfur is our medicine cat and he's making sure you are alright and out of danger. Stonefur, one of our warriors, found you drowning in the river and got you to safety. You were out of it at the time."
It was all a blur afterwards, because shortly after Oakheart's introduction of both himself and his Clan she had been visited by the Crookedstar, who graciously allowed her to stay as long as Mudfur deemed wise for her health. Over three days Firestar got to know practically the entire Clan coming and going to and from the medicine cat's den, all day and night, problems of all kinds, now Firestar completely understood Mudfur's grumpiness. The RiverClan cats had a wide variety of reactions to seeing Firestar resting in the medicine cat's den, some were suspicious and wary, some hostile, others were merely curious, some were very welcoming and open towards her, but many just didn't know what to think of Firestar.
If it wasn't for Mudfur and Oakheart keeping everyone in line then Firestar would be completely overwhelmed by everyone.
On the fourth day Mudfur finally allowed Firestar outside the medicine cat's den. The very moment the flame pelted she-cat stepped a paw outside the medicine cats den she was instantly bombarded by Silverpaw, who Firestar would later realize as Silverstream, with questions on who Firestar was and her life outside the Clan.
"ThunderClan! You can't trust a single one of those bird chasers!" Silverpaw would rant as Firestar got to the part in her story that led her here, to RiverClan's territory. "Best steer clear of the lot of them."
Firestar would later ponder over the irony of Silverpaw's words as this same beautiful silver-and-black tabby would fall madly in love with a ThunderClan tom whom she would willingly break the code for.
Their conversation was put to a halt by a very dark gray she-cat, bigger than Firestar yet smaller than Silverpaw, who stalked right towards them and openly glared at Firestar.
"You should be around these types of cats." The she-cat meowed to Silverpaw, acting as though Firestar wasn't even there. "They'll just waste your time and just drag down your training."
Silverpaw just rolled her blue eyes and shared an exasperated look with Firestar; clearly Silverpaw was just as fed up with this other apprentice as Firestar was.
So of course Firestar had to beat the dirt out of the aggregant furball.
There was something akin to begrudging acceptance of defeat in the dark gray RiverClan apprentices eyes, once Firestar was done dragging her tail through the pebbles, before scowling at Firestar and stalking off into the reeds.
"Impressive!" Silverpaw said in surprise, nudging Firestar's side. "Not bad for a house cat!"
"Not bad indeed." Both Firestar and Silverpaw whipped around to find both Crookedstar and Oakheart standing right behind them, alongside who Firestar recognized as Mistystar, currently Mistyfoot, and the male version of her; Stonefur.
"My apprentice has been training for moons now, and she's one of the best apprentices in Riverclan." There weren't any hints of hostility towards Firestar as Stonefur openly acknowledged Firestar beating up his own apprentice, instead he looked quite interested.
"She should join RiverClan!" Silverpaw carefreely suggested, startling both the older RiverClan warriors and Firestar.
However, Silverpaw's flippant suggestion was taken more seriously than Firestar would have ever imagined.
In that very moment, when that offer of joining RiverClan was extended to Firestar, Firestar had only flashbacks to Bluestar giving the same type of offer for Rusty, the cat she used to be, without much of a moment's hesitation, Firestar accepted a decision that would change her future forever.
The ones who seemed accepting during Firestar's induction as a new member of RiverClan were only a small few, many spoke out against Firestar joining as an apprentice, because who would want an outside in their Clan?. However Oakheart spoke on her behalf, Mistyfoot accepted the role as mentor and Crookedstar enforced the decision; the newly renamed Morningpaw was officially an apprentice of RiverClan.
Now that everything has gone sideways and vastly different from her first life; Morningpaw honestly didn't know what to do.
O0O0O
I swear to StarClan that if I don't finish this in two chapters I will kill everyone in this room and then myself…I take that back my cats are currently in my room right now…I'll decide on that later!!!
Fun Facts;
Everything changed the moment Firestar entered the forest earlier than expected. That one detail changed who Firestar ran into and how the interaction went.
I seriously hate Darkstripe
Dustpaw, Longtail win no brownie points.
I love Oakheart if you haven't caught on yet.
Mudfur is as grumpy as Yellowfang with just more sarcasm.
I'm honestly not a big Silverstream fan because there aren't enough good things shining on her. The only thing that I liked was in Crookedstar's promise when Crookedstar was confronted by his brother about his treatment towards Silverkit, and he began being an actual father towards her.
Silverpaw is going to be Morningpaw's BFF!!!
I have no idea about Riverclan's allegiance so I winged it!! Tried my best!!! Also the rest of the allegiances are the same for the other Clans. (I just didn't want to add them.)
I had so much trouble coming up with Firestar's new name!!! I was originally going to do Goldenpaw but looked and found so many RiverClan fanfics centered around a RiverClan cat with Golden as their prefix that I decided not to. Then I thought of Ember, and realized many used that name too. Then I thought about using Flame and that just seemed sloppy to me and I didn't want to use Fire again…so I chose Morning!! Goes with the suffix I chose for her warrior name!!!
