Good evening, thank you, welcome. I do apologize for the short and uninteresting nature of the first four chapters. I hope anybody that may read this can be able to get something from it, to feel something. These early chapters do not represent that in a way I feel happy with. I will excuse myself from rambling any further, but until we meet again, here is the story.
Allegiances
Thunderclan
Leader
Barkstar- jet black tom, with brown hind paws
Deputy
Thunderclaw- brown tom with a long scar from his muzzle to his belly
Medicine Cat
Berryflight- white she-cat with gray hairs beginning to show themselves
Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)
Gorsewhisker- gray tom with a white streak down his side
Snowflight- tabby she-cat with an odd gray patterning on her front legs
Coldstone- dark gray she-cat with dull claws
Briereyes- golden she-cat with only one working eye
Stonefoot- light gray tom, has a limp on one paw
Scornheart- black tom with gray stripes
Firepelt- orange she-cat
Apprentices (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)
Dewpaw- small gray tom
Yarrowpaw- yellow tabby she-cat with a black patch on one paw
Yellowpaw- yellow tabby tom
Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)
Clawpelt- dark gray tom who lost feeling in his tail
Brambletail- brown and black she-cat with slight hearing problems
Shadowclan
Leader
Greenstar- black tom with green eyes
Deputy
Blacktail- gray tom with a black tail
Medicine Cat
Tornclaw- light gray she-cat with a limp
Medicine Cat Apprentice
Pheasantheart- calico she-cat
Warriors
Blackfoot- white she-cat
Silvereye- gray tom who is blind in one eye
Flowereye- calico she-cat
Darkoak- black tom with abnormally long claws on his hind legs
Foxshade- brown she-cat with yellow eyes
Heavypuddle- gray she-cat with one ear ripped off
Stumpyleaf- brown tom with yellow eyes
Seedbrook- small tortoiseshell tom
Ravenfall- pale tom with a scar on his chest in the shape of a cat's face
Apprentices
Antpaw- small black tom
Thawpaw- brown she-cat
Rustpaw- black tom with green eyes
Queens
Doewing- tabby she-cat
Grasscar- expecting black and brown she-cat
Elders
Nimblerain- calico she-cat
Riverclan
Leader
Stormstar- light gray tom with many battle scars
Deputy
Ravensea- blue-gray she-cat with unusually sharp teeth
Medicine Cat
Whitestem- pure white tom with amber eyes
Medicine Cat Apprentice
Acornpaw- Dark gray tom with blue eyes
Warriors
Sootnose- white tom with amber eyes
Otterfern- calico she-cat with a scarred paw
Rapidwind- calico she-cat with hazel eyes
Foxspot- brown-red tom with a scar on his paw that makes it hurt to walk
Slateleg- gray tom with a slash going from his chest to both his paws
Haredust- gray she-cat with one hazel eye and one green eye
Apprentices
Flypaw- small light gray she-cat
Sootpaw- tall light gray she-cat
Aspenpaw- dark gray tom with green eyes
Queens
Browntree- calico she-cat with four kits
Windclan
Leader
Dawnstar- short black and brown she-cat with claw marks under one eye
Deputy
Waspwing- pale she-cat with a thick pelt that attracts dust
Medicine Cat
Sandwatch- gray tom with blue eyes, the oldest cat in the clans
Warriors
Cloverthroat- black she-cat with green eyes who has trouble breathing
Brownfire- dark brown tom with several missing teeth
Cedernose- gray she-cat with golden eyes
Tawnyspot- pale she-cat who prefers to call herself "Tawnyspots"
Breezestripe- jet black tom with yellow eyes
Apprentices
Gorsepaw- brown tabby tom with a slight hearing impairment in one ear
Ashpaw- brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Sandpaw- completely deaf brown tabby she-cat
Flamepaw- black and brown tom with blue eyes
Elders
Darkpuddle- Relatively young tom that retired early
Prologue
A thousand leaves fall beneath the wilted oak tree.
The cold winds troubled breeze whisked through the darkened forest night as a she-cat was scurrying through the snow. Her light gray fur glistened with the white specks that fell from above. The moon had refused to shine throughout this particular night, and the stars were very few in the sky.
Mighty oak trees, with their bark to keep them warm, observed her venture as the she-cat trembled against her will and continued to sink into the drowning snow that was up to her belly by now. She could feel her body becoming numb as the snow drained away her body heat. It had begun to be hard to breathe, but still she refused to drop the kit she was carrying in her mouth.
Its eyes were rolled back into its head, as if it were about to curl up and give up on its short grasp at life. The trees seemed to laugh at the misfortune that was unfolding in front of them. She finally gave up on her own life as well and curled around the kit, trying to keep it as warm as possible, maybe as a sort of instinct, or maybe as an apology. It squirmed, letting her know that it was still breathing for now.
"It's a good night to die, but I think I'll wait for a nice summer breeze. That always feels better," The she-cat thought to herself before deciding she would continue on, as one, if she could get up. A shaky tom's voice called hesitantly out through the shadows, seeming like it came from everywhere, even on the borders of life and death that she paraded.
"Please come with me, I'll keep you, and your kit warm." The she-cat started to sit up but with no intentions of going with this stranger. "We have a Medicine, Cat, please, it's not that far, to camp, please come with me."
The voice started to become more stable to the she-cats ears, and she was able to see where it came from, even if the land she was looking at couldn't stay still. She started to walk back into the snow, leaving the kit behind for whether the tom would care for it or not. He didn't call after her, she didn't speak back to him, he only picked up the kit in his mouth and walked away again, into the dark trees of the bare forests coldest night.
His name was Stonefoot.
He eventually reached the camp that he had mentioned to the she-cat. Instead of carrying the kit to the Medicine Cat den, where there were cats who could treat it, he walked to the den opposite, the nursery, where kits were taken care of by their mothers. But in the middle of Leaf-Bare, there were no queens there, only the remains of old moss used seasons ago. He curled up, just as the she-cat had done, with the kit pressed against his fur as tightly as he could.
He heard sneezing and looked down to see that the kit was asleep. He was too tired to question it again, so he laid his head down onto the kits, trying to apply the most warmth that he could. He couldn't let any other cat know, he didn't trust them enough to not throw him out, along with the kit.
There were eyes beaming down on Stonefoot as he awoke from his seemingly moons of rest, and yet, only a single night had fallen since he had strolled out into the voidful forest.
"Well, get on with it," spoke a voice most familiar to Stonefoot. Barkstar, the leader of the clan, stood in the front of the group of cats gathered around him.
"He would've died without me-" Stonefoot was cut off before he could finish his excuse. "You know you can't keep doing things like this to me," meowed Barkstar in a quiet, and strangely calming voice that made Stonefoot feel like a kit himself. The kit, surprisingly, opened its own eyes now, with a sort of fear and intrigue glittering in the blue orbs on his face.
"You're not going to give it up are you? You're determined to keep this kit, I can see that," Barkstar paused for a moment, as if already regretting his words before he had said them.
"I'll let my clan vote, they can be the ones to decide if they want to live with it," Stonefoot got up from the still cold dry moss and stretched before wordlessly moving through the small crowd to the fresh-kill pile, picking out a squirrel for himself.
A stone left of the highrock to let the kit stay, and right to throw it out, that was the arrangement. Stonefoot was the first to push his rock, of course, to the left side. Barkstar stood to the right, followed closely by Thunderclaw.
Gorsewhisker moved to the left side with Berryflight, while Coldstone and Scornheart decided the opposite.
All of the cats seemed uneasy already, even though only half of them had voted.
Yarrowpaw stepped up next shakily saying, "I want it to have a good life, but I don't like the thought of a rogue in the camp with us," and put her stone to the right.
Both apprentices decided the opposite of her, although Dewpaw seemed much more hesitant. Clawpelt urged Brambletail to move forward with a nudge of his paw, and after she chose to let the kit stay in the clan, Clawpelt moved to join her.
Firepelt followed, quite happy with her decision.
Snowflight decided that it was her time and moved to the right mournfully.
Briereyes was the last cat, and she rolled her stone to the left side, guaranteeing the kit's future in the clan.
Barkstar counted, and counted again, before finally announcing "The clan has spoken, and since there are more stones on the left side of the highrock, the kit will be allowed to stay and become a warrior of Thunderclan. If it is not capable of becoming such, however, it will be thrown out to fend for itself with whatever training it has received by then,"
He leaped onto the Highrock and scanned the crowd, all staring up at him, except for Clawpelt, who was already walking towards the elder's den, and Stonefoot, who was clearing the rocks that they had used.
"Stonefoot," Barkstar called to the light gray cat. He had to say it again before he got Stonefoots attention. "When the time comes, if it comes, you will be mentor to this kit, I know that it will be your first, but as you brought him here, you will be responsible for caring for it and taking blame for its actions,"
"We should give him, a name," meowed Stonefoot after the crowd had disbanded and Barkstar had leaped down.
"Lonekit,"
"That's not a very good name, I have a, couple ideas but you know I, I have a hard time choosing between things."
Barkstar walked away then, and Stonefoot realized that what he said goes, and he wasn't going to be able to convince him otherwise, so he turned to visit the newly named Lonekit before realizing that he hadn't an idea of what to do now, so he turned back and walked towards Barkstars den.
Stonefoot awoke the next morning, feeling like how he imagined a squirrel must feel when it realizes it's going to die.
Stonefoot got up and bumped the small kit, forgetting that it was there. Outside, the first cat he saw was Briereyes.
She had water all over her pelt and she was walking in a straight line despite not seeming to know where she was going.
As Stonefoot passed by, she said "Good mornin," He didn't know what she meant by this. His back leg felt like it was bleeding as he made his way out of camp. Stonefoot decided he was going to go hunting.
In the afternoon, Stonefoot almost decided to return home, but he knew that once he got there, somebody would ask where he was. It wasn't raining anymore but he still thought that it was strange for it to snow one day, and then rain the next. The cold slush of rain mixed with snow almost stopped the burning in his leg.
Stonefoot wrapped his tail around the small kit and stayed in the same position until he felt the moon inside of his claws. He then went outside of the nursery and looked at the sky for the entire night.
The next morning, Stonefoots father came to visit. He didn't notice him at first because he blended into the dirt. Stonefoot had forgotten to pay attention to what his father was saying and only managed to pick out the words "I love you," Stonefoot wanted to say it back but when he tried to speak, he found he no longer had a tongue. When his father left Stonefoot couldn't help but think that something felt off about him. He couldn't really describe it, but something felt backwards.
Stonefoot's throat felt dry, so he decided to get a drink of water by the river. He liked the taste of the water in his mouth as he moved it around with his tongue, but when he swallowed it, he felt an immediate sense of regret as he felt the water run down the back of his throat.
He thought about how the cats around him acted. None of them seemed to know who the other was, and if they were even clanmates, and they were always asking him questions. He was feeling very sick this day, but he was sure it was just his imagination.
He thought about the stars once again, although it wasn't night, or at least he didn't think it was. He thought about what it would be like when he was dead, he wanted to stay on the ground when he died, he thought living in the stars would be scary, because there's no one to watch over you there.
Everything was moving so fast.
Stonefoot had no idea where he was anymore, so he closed his eyes and hoped that he could sleep. It took him a few minutes until he realized he still had his eyes open.
Stonefoots kit had started to move around and squirm in the nest. It didn't have its eyes open yet, so Stonefoot wasn't sure how it knew how to move. He leaned down until his mouth was at level with the kit and whispered, "I love you," into its ears. The kit responded by squirming more and Stonefoot felt proud of himself. Nothing bad could happen, as long as he stayed in the nursery and pressed his kit to his body with his tail.
Until I write again,
-Gojira
