So, it started as a joke and here we are.
This whole story was generated by the wonderful Clan-gen game. Some names are stupid? Generated by Clan-gen. The plot's rhythm is weird? Generated by Clan-gen. Really, I'm only giving a personality to my cute pixel cats.
Anyway, this turned out much more serious than intended but hey, apparently I can't write for fun, so let's go all out!
Blossomstar stopped running and hid under bushes to protect herself from the rain. The water had matted her grey stripes and she appeared almost black in the pale light of the moon. A part of her knew they needed to continue, but many of the others were falling behind and she knew it was only a matter of time before someone ended up unable to follow. Even if she would have liked to reach their destination faster, the last of their pursuers had given up two sunrises ago.
A sudden movement shook the leaves and she tensed before recognising her medicine cat's scent. Pricklesong crawled carefully under the bushes to join her, holding a young kit delicately in her jaws. She set him gently on the ground and pushed him against her belly; the least wet part of her fur. Then she turned towards Blossomstar.
"Everyone is exhausted. We can't keep going like this."
"Don't worry, we're almost there. Leave Hootkit to me and go tell the others to rest for a while. We'll start walking again at dawn."
Pricklesong bumped their shoulders without a word before disappearing. Hootkit began whimpering, looking for warmth, and she quickly pulled him to her side. Watching the drenched grey-speckled kit curl up close to her, Blossomstar wondered again if she had made the right choice by bringing him. He was only a little over two moons old, small and vulnerable; it was a wonder that he seemed healthy, if a bit cold, with the weather and the time spent walking. Too young to choose to come of his own volition. But if they made it, his survival odd would be much higher that in their old Clan…
She blinked awake when a soft light filtered through the leaves, right into her eyes. At some point during the night, the rain had stopped and both Hootkit and herself were much dryer. She gently nudged him awake with her muzzle, and once he got up, after blinking sleepily at her several times, she lifted him by the scruff of his neck and sneaked out of the bushes.
Pricklesong was already up, her brown and white fur no longer glistening with water, busying herself with the difficult task of trying to wake the others. Unleashing Hootkit on them proved to be a most effective method and, after they had all gathered, she once again entrusted the kit to the medicine cat and took the lead.
Without the rain, they progressed much faster and around sunhigh, they reached the five rocks arranged in a circle that signalled the proximity of their future camp. Not that anyone but Snaildapple and herself knew what it meant.
As if on cue, the dark grey tom came up to her and, despite his silence, she could feel his excitement. His white muzzle was dirtied with mud, but his eyes shone, and she couldn't help the proud curl of her own tail in the face of such unabashed joy.
She led her companions through a short tunnel of brambles that opened up on a large clearing and, against her best efforts to tame her eagerness, immediately jumped on the wide and flat rock standing near the entrance. Trying to regain her composure, Blossomstar watched everyone fill the space in front of her and settle down to listen.
"As we are all gathered here already, and because Hootkit bravely travelled all this way with us and deserves to listen, I'll pass up tradition for today and begin the Clan meeting with something else…"
Nine pairs of eyes followed every flick of her tail and she forced her nervousness down. She had wanted this. It was time to own up to her decisions.
"Thank you for believing in this project. Thank you for believing in me. It's thanks to you, to your trust that our ancestors saw fit to create MistClan, grant me nine lives and the name Blossomstar. I wouldn't have been able to do anything alone. That's why, for our first Clan meeting, I'm thanking each of you. I may not make the most enlightened choices in the future, but rest assured that I will endeavour to always put the good of the Clan before anything else."
From her vantage point, she could see Flipspot, who had been her mentor moons and moons ago, and Grasslilac huddled together and once again, doubt overtook her. Wouldn't either of them have made a better leader. They were both more experienced than her, and Flipspot had lost so many of their kits in their old Clan that neither of them ever wanted to give parenthood another try, thus avoiding distractions…
Blossomstar did her best to shake away these thoughts and, as no one seemed to have anything to add, continued to speak.
"As a new leader, I still have one more duty to perform before leaving you to a well-deserved rest. I was given the responsibility of our Clan, therefore I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice."
She took a deep breath.
"The new deputy of MistClan is Snaildapple."
There was a beat of silence before several congratulations were heard and the young tomcat bowed his head bashfully just as Hootkit began jumping all over his tail in excitement. She watched as Bluestripe, his mate, licked his cheek with pride shinning in her eyes, and suddenly it dawned on her.
Now, Blossomstar knew it for sure, there was no turning back.
Did I tell you that this might be something like 50 chapters?