Okay, so this is a kind of mash-up of stories I've had in the back of my mind for a while now. Firstly, there's the 'Yellowfang's daughters survive' idea, which I like but I wanted to put my own twist on it by having one be raised in ThunderClan. Then there's the idea of Scourge joining ThunderClan, which I also love but there's so many that it was difficult for me to find a unique angle. Then I came up with this and well here you go.
There was only silence.
Featherwhisker felt nervous as he walked along in StarClan. He wasn't used to the calm and the quiet when he spoke to his warrior ancestors. Not one had approached him since he arrived at the Moonstone with the other medicine cats. But now a scent filled his nose: the scent of ShadowClan. An orange and gray she-cat approached him, one he recognized as a former ShadowClan elder named Silverflame. She appeared as she had at the height of her strength as a warrior.
"Hello, Featherwhisker," she greeted him.
"What message do you have for me?" he asked respectfully, bowing his head.
"Straight to the point. ThunderClan usually is." She took a deep breath. "Dark times will be coming to the forest. Not for a few seasons but they are coming. And they will come from ShadowClan."
He stiffened.
"When the broken shadow comes, a wish will watch while hope fights back."
"What do you mean?"
"Watch Fourtrees, Featherwhisker. It will begin there."
"Wait!" Silverflame was gone.
He sat up by the Moonstone and noticed the others were still asleep. Save for Sagewhisker's apprentice, Yellowfang. She was awake and staring at him with wide orange eyes. It was then he took notice of her scent, which had a hint of milk to it. His heart sank. She'd broken the medicine cat code but… she had been a warrior just a couple moons before. His gaze locked with hers and she tore herself away, looking guilty.
When the broken shadow comes, a wish will watch while hope fights back.
The kits would be born to Yellowfang. He would need to help her. There was no way he'd let whatever this darkness was take over the forest. But how was he meant to help when it meant breaking the medicine cat code?
"You need to take one."
He stared at Yellowfang in shock.
Her kits were nursing at her belly. He'd helped her deliver them and all three were healthy. But her request was… just mouse-brained! How could he take a ShadowClan kit? How would he explain it to Sunstar? His brother wasn't stupid; he'd know that the kit carried ShadowClan scent as well as any of the warriors in ThunderClan.
"I… I can't…"
"StarClan told me you must. One of them won't survive in ShadowClan if you don't take it. Two of them will."
She looked pained at the idea of giving up one of her kits but Featherwhisker knew she was right. If StarClan declared he must take one then he must take one.
"It'll have to be one of my daughters," she continued. "Raggedpelt… he'll want a son."
Raggedpelt? These are his kits?
"I'll take one. But you need to rest before you take them to ShadowClan. Birth isn't an easy task. I promise you that whichever daughter you choose will be well cared for in ThunderClan."
Yellowfang nodded and turned her attention back to the nursing little ones. Her son was the largest of the three, seemingly pushing his sisters out of the way. Featherwhisker felt slightly worried about the prophecy that StarClan had given him scarcely a moon earlier. If he had to guess, the tom would be the broken shadow. Whichever kit he took to ThunderClan would be the hope. The last one would be the wish.
And when it was time, Yellowfang gave Hopekit one last lick, taking Brokenkit and Wishkit with her back towards ShadowClan. Featherwhisker made sure to give her a thorough wash to get rid of any lingering scent of ShadowClan or her mother. She squealed in protest but allowed him to do it, not that she had much of a choice. He was grateful when the first cat he ran into on his way back to camp was Bluefur, who looked confused at the kit but said nothing.
Despite the questions from his Clanmates, he did not give away Yellowfang's secret. All he told them was he found the kit abandoned in the forest and that she needed a mother to nurse her. Snowfur gladly took on the duty, her own kit having been born a couple days earlier. Hopekit nestled next to her new brother and suckled eagerly. Seeing the ginger tabby next to the pure white of her foster mother was rather amusing. Thistleclaw definitely wasn't pleased but said nothing about having his mate nurse the newest addition to ThunderClan.
Things worsened slightly after Snowfur was struck by a monster on the Thunderpath. Hopekit mourned Snowfur as much as any cat but Thistleclaw took even less interest in her. Luckily Bluefur had taken over acting as a mother for both Whitekit and Hopekit. He suspected it was those motherly instincts that caused Bluefur to bring back an injured young kittypet who Tigerpaw had attacked on patrol. Sunstar allowed the black tom to join their Clan when it was discovered that he had been searching for a new place to live. Tigerpaw was punished for attacking a kit and banned from the nursery for a moon… and he had to care for the elders. Icepaw was given to Lionheart as the golden warrior's first apprentice.
Hopekit was doing well… but what about her brother and sister…?
Lizardstripe had never wanted to be a queen.
Sure, she loved Mudclaw, but having kits and being stuck in the nursery for moons wasn't her idea of what she wanted to do. Deerkit, Tanglekit, and Runningkit had been enough of a pawful. Now she had two more—Brokenkit and Wishkit. Raggedpelt had brought them to her claiming that their mother had passed away and they needed someone to nurse them. His mate, whoever she had been, had only lived long enough to name her son and daughter.
Sure. Not like she just decided to dump them on me.
She knew that wasn't fair. She was the only nursing queen at the moment and the only option for these kits to make it. But she still felt cheated. Mudclaw could go out and hunt without coming back to crying kits wanting milk. Brokenkit and Wishkit were stealing what she had from the three she'd actually given birth to. She mentioned as much to another warrior and saw Wishkit guide Brokenkit away, the little tom looking crestfallen.
Wishkit, surprisingly enough, had become a sort of peacemaker in the nursery. If Deerkit and Brokenkit started arguing she'd intervene. A few warriors stopped by and complimented her on how well the smallest kit in the nursery was turning out. Not that she had anything to do with it but she enjoyed the praise. Yellowfang took the two out sometimes to be her helpers, which only Wishkit continued with after Deerkit mocked his denmates for only having old she-cats for friends.
As the two continued to grow and more kits joined the nursery, Wishkit continued to act as peacemaker when things got too rough. Especially if it involved her brother. Raggedpelt seemed proud of his kits and visited frequently when being deputy didn't take up his time. Brokenkit idolized his father, while Wishkit seemed to not be as interested in the violence that plagued Clan life. She seemed more fascinated by hunting and caring for her Clanmates, so much so that Mudclaw joked that she'd become the Clan's new medicine cat.
Yet, when the time came, Runningkit—now Runningpaw—got the position.
Foxheart ended up mentoring Wishkit.
It didn't really matter to her. They were out of her fur and she was never having kits again. Nor would she ever nurse a kit that wasn't hers.
Across the border, Hopekit became an apprentice herself, mentored by Goldenflower. She was a spritely young cat, one that Yellowfang and Featherwhisker were both proud of. But when would the prophecy come to pass?
And what would it mean for Brokenpaw, Wishpaw, and Hopepaw?
Just the first chapter. From this point on, I will be mainly alternating between four different perspectives—Brokenpaw, Wishpaw, Hopepaw, and Icepaw (Scourge). I may switch to another cat from time to time but they are our main characters.
Please let me know what you think! The more reviews I get the more motivated I am to write!
So long and thanks for all the fish!