Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's. The Warriors world and characters belong to Erin Hunter, who last time I checked, is not one of my multiple personalities.
Author's Note: This story is what happens when someone who studies creative writing in college spends part of her summer getting high and rereading all her old Warriors books. I started wondering what life was like in ShadowClan under Tigerstar's rule, and resenting the fact that (A) all of the rogue characters are blobs of evil with no personality and (B) there are no well-developed female characters associated with the villains. I wrote down some ideas for a character late one night, and within a few weeks, I had a full draft of a story. I figured I would resurrect this old account and post a few chapters just for kicks. Most major events and some dialogue are taken directly from the last three books of the first series and the novella Tigerclaw's Fury, though I've obviously moved some things around and made minor changes for plot reasons. Hope y'all enjoy!
Allegiances
SHADOWCLAN
Leader: Nightstar: black tom
Deputy: Cinderfur: thin gray tom
Medicine Cat: Runningnose: small gray-and-white tom
Apprentice: Littlecloud: very small tabby tom
WARRIORS
Fernshade: tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes
Flintfang: dark gray tom
Deerfoot: dark brown tabby tom
Wetfoot: dark gray tom
Apprentice: Oakpaw: small brown tom
Dawncloud: pale ginger she-cat
Frogtail: mottled brown tom
Wolfstep: big gray-and-black tom
Ratscar: light brown tom with a huge scar
Tallpoppy: long-legged tabby she-cat
Apprentice: Darkpaw: black she-cat
Boulder: skinny silver-gray tom, formerly of BloodClan
Russetfur: dark ginger she-cat, formerly of BloodClan
QUEENS
Newtspeck: spotted golden she-cat; mother to Rowankit (dark ginger tom) and Cedarkit (gray tom); foster mother to Lightningkit (ginger she-kit with white paws, OC)
ELDERS
Ashheart: dark gray she-cat
Blizardwing: mottled white tom
THUNDERCLAN
Leader: Bluestar: blue-gray she-cat with silver around her muzzle
Deputy: Tigerclaw: huge dark brown tabby tom with unusually long claws
Medicine Cat: Yellowfang: gray she-cat with a flat face, formerly of ShadowClan
Apprentice: Cinderpelt: gray she-cat with blue eyes
WARRIORS
Fireheart: bright ginger tom with green eyes
Apprentice: Cloudpaw: fluffy white tom
Whitestorm: older white tom
Apprentice: Brightpaw: ginger-and-white she-cat
Sandstorm: pale ginger she-cat
Graystripe: long-furred gray tom
Apprentice: Brackenpaw: golden-brown tom
Darkstripe: sleek black-and-gray tom
Longtail: pale tabby tom with black stripes
Apprentice: Swiftpaw: pale brown tabby tom
Runningwind: tabby tom
Dustpelt: brown tom
Mousefur: small brown she-cat
Apprentice: Thornpaw: golden-brown tabby tom
Willowpelt: pale gray she-cat with blue eyes
QUEENS
Goldenflower: pale ginger she-cat; mother to Bramblekit (dark brown tabby tom) and Tawnykit (tortoiseshell she-kit)
Brindleface: tabby she-cat
Speckletail: speckled she-cat
PRISONERS
Brokentail: blind dark brown tabby with a bent tail and a flat face, formerly the leader of ShadowClan
RIVERCLAN
Leader: Leopardstar: spotted golden she-cat
Deputy: Stonefur: blue-gray tom
Apprentice: Stormpaw: gray tom
Medicine Cat: Mudfur: long-furred brown tom
WARRIORS
Blackclaw: black tom with stripes
Mistyfoot: blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes
Apprentice: Featherpaw: silver-gray she-cat
Shadepelt: dark gray she-cat
Apprentice: Primrosepaw
Mosspelt: mottled brown she-cat
WINDCLAN
Leader: Tallstar: old black-and-white tom
Deputy: Deadfoot: black tom with a twisted paw
There aren't any other WindClan cats in this story. Sorry, WindClan fans.
BLOODCLAN
Leader: Scourge: small black tom with blue eyes
Deputy: Bone: large black-and-white tom
FIGHTERS
Snipe: black she-cat with green eyes
Gordon: black-and-white tom (OC)
Snake: pale gray tom
Ice: pale gray tom
Emerald: white she-cat with green eyes (OC)
Claw: big black-and-white tom with a curved scar across his forehead (OC)
Brick: ginger she-cat
Screech: battle-scarred old tabby tom (OC)
CATS OUTSIDE CLANS
Barley: black-and-white tom who lives in the barn beyond WindClan territory, formerly of BloodClan
Ravenpaw: black tom who lives in the barn beyond WindClan territory, formerly of ThunderClan
Blackfoot: big white tom with black paws, formerly of ShadowClan
Stumpytail: brown tom with a short tail, formerly of ShadowClan
Tangleburr: brown-and-gray she-cat, formerly of ShadowClan
Jerry: gray-and-white tabby tom (OC)
Snag: ginger tabby tom with amber eyes
Mowgli: dark brown tom with green eyes, formerly of BloodClan
Cici: small brindled she-cat with brown-and-white fur and amber eyes, formerly of BloodClan (OC)
Cora: pale gray tabby she-cat, formerly of BloodClan (OC)
Scorch: ginger-and-white tom, formerly of BloodClan (OC)
Risk: black she-cat with green eyes, formerly of BloodClan (OC)
Chance: black she-cat with a missing eye (OC)
Sasha: tawny she-cat with blue eyes
Lucky: small black-and-white tom (OC)
Prologue.
"Firestar! Firestar! Firestar!" The cats of StarClan chanted the new ThunderClan leader's name after granting him his nine lives. The ginger tom felt warm pride swell in his chest, choked off by anxiety. Was he really ready to follow in Bluestar's pawsteps? Would his clan survive Tigerstar's next scheme? His last one had come within a whisker of destroying ThunderClan.
Suddenly, the chanting cut off, like a cat's last cry after having its throat slit. A panicked hiss from Bluestar made Firestar spin around. A massive hill of bones, nearly the height of a cat, loomed out of the darkness, glowing with an eerie crimson light. Firestar went cold all over when he realized that some of the bones belonged to cats. The stench of crowfood almost made him gag. Blood began to ooze from the pile of bones, soaking into the ground.
"Something terrible is coming, Firestar," Bluestar said, pressing her pelt against his. He couldn't see her in the blackness, but her familiar scent and voice steadied him.
"What can you see?" Firestar asked.
"Four will become two. And blood will rule the forest, unless the lost daughter of the pines returns," Bluestar proclaimed, her voice fading on the last word.
"Wait!" Firestar cried desperately. "Tell me what you mean!"
But Bluestar had vanished, along with the rest of StarClan. Firestar expected to wake up beside the glowing Moonstone, but instead, the world lurched, the ground sliding out from under his paws. Everything went white for a moment, and his ears filled with the whoosh of a strong wind.
Firestar opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by green. The plants were unnaturally bright and had the faint smell of twolegs. He got to his paws and peered at the big stone den off in the distance. One glance was enough to tell him this wasn't the place where he'd spent the first carefree moons of his kithood, before he had a mortal enemy or a clan to lead. But how had he gotten here? And how would he get out?
Fear made his ginger fur prickle as he headed away from the twoleg den. He hoped to StarClan he'd see, hear, or smell something familiar soon. He opened his mouth to call for Bluestar, but then he caught a glimpse of a brindled pelt under a bush. Firestar tensed as the unknown cat emerged into the sunlight. Half of her left ear was missing, and an angry, red wound on her side dripped a yellowish pus. There were no stars in this cat's brown-and-white fur. Instead, she seemed to be made of smoke. As she padded toward Firestar, her form flickered in and out. He had a feeling that if he tried to touch her, his paw would go right through her.
"Who are you?" the ThunderClan leader asked. "You're not from StarClan."
The insubstantial she-cat's amber eyes glittered with wry humor. "Not all cats go to StarClan, you know. There are other places, other worlds for cats who don't belong to your precious clans. My name is Nala. I'm what you call a rogue."
Firestar's hackles rose. How was a dead rogue walking in his dreams?
"It ain't no easy thing for me to bring you here," Nala meowed, guessing the direction of his thoughts. "But I'm doing this for my kits. I will drain my spirit to nothing if that's what it takes to save them." Firestar could believe it. She looked as fierce and desperate as any clanborn mother fighting for her kits.
"But how can I help kits who aren't even in my clan?" Firestar asked.
Nala's form grew even dimmer as she rasped, "Your ancestors tell you that fire will save your clan. But I've seen further, down different paths. Without the nettle's sting, the fire will go out before it has a chance to burn."
Firestar shivered. "The nettle's sting?" he echoed. What could that mean? There was no warrior with "nettle" in their name in ThunderClan, or in any of the other clans, from what he could remember.
"If you don't want blood to rule your forest, you gotta look for help in your enemy's camp."
"But that makes no sense! Why would my enemies help me?" Firestar asked.
But Nala had already disappeared, her last words coming to him as a faint breeze that tickled his ear fur. "You must save my daughter, no matter the choices she's made," the dead rogue whispered.
"Who is your daughter? How will I know how to help her?" Firestar called. Nala must be talking about the "lost daughter of the pines" from Bluestar's prophecy. But the ghostly she-cat was gone, as unreachable as StarClan.
