Prelude
For countless seasons and moons, Hazel had known life on the sea. Her seafolk had kept her and many cats on the rickety sea-monster and allowed her to catch the rats and mice that dared to try and be upon her decks. She was proud to stand among the other sea-cats to hunt and catch in peace. Many sunny days and clear skies welcomed them for as long as any could remember.
So, when the sky had turned dark with cloud cover, did Hazel feel a sense of nervousness. The winds began to twist and turn, billowing her long pale brown fur as the gale around them grew stronger and stronger. Dark brown eyes widening in horror as a windstorm began.
Cats and seafolk yowled commands, their voices being lost in the billowing gale. Hazel felt her pelt being whipped in the wind as she clung onto the wooden railing. Her eyes watering as she tried to see through the wind. A loud boom reverberated through her body as the rain began to pour. The fat raindrops soaked her to the skin in a matter of heartbeats, stinging her through her pelt as she heard the crying calls of the sea-queens searching for their kits.
Fear pulsed through her body as Hazel left her post, fighting her way through the powerful gales to help find the kits. They could be swept away as the sea very quickly grew rough. The salt water frothing up and over the deck dangerously. She was freezing, cold to the bone, as she crept closer and closer to the sea-queen. A seafolk screamed something nearby, something about a wave. Hazel lifted her head, her heart seeming to drop with her stomach. The biggest white-capped wave she had ever seen was sweeping towards them.
"Brace yourselves!" A sea-cat screeched.
It was too late.
The wave slammed into the sea-monster.
Saltwater flooded Hazel's senses, filling her ears and nose with a burning sensation.
Her claws scraped against the deck as the seawater tugged on her pelt. Blinking open her eyes, she felt the faint sting of salt. She sneezed out salt water from her nose, her ears running with it as the whole world seemed to slowly tilt this way and that.
The sea-monster was rocking, tilting more and more to one side.
Hazel let out a frustrated hiss, her claws aching as she tried to find the sea-queen she was looking for.
She was no where to be found. Cries were coming from the sea and Hazel knew she had to stay on the sea-monster to survive.
She heard someone call her name, her dark brown eyes snapping towards a cat that was skidding towards her. "We have to get off this thing before another wave hits!" They yelled above the wind and rain.
"And then what? Drown!?" Hazel seethed, her eyes narrowed into slits. "Rusty, we have to stay on as long as we can. It's our only hope for survival."
Rusty grimaced. "I doubt that we will have a choice." The dark ginger she-cat nodded her muzzle behind Hazel; with one look she finally understood. "This storm will be the end of us, Hazel. You know it and I know it."
I can weather any storm, but maybe I'm too old to be weathering this one.
The wave crashed over the sea-monster, tipping it over and causing it to capsize as it was tossed and whirled around in the raging sea. The sea that Hazel had known all her life, finally seemed to take her life and strip her from it, once and for all.
.
.
"Well, you seemed to have accepted the inevitable." an unfamiliar voice seemed to purr near Hazel.
Slowly, the elderly she-cat opened her eyes, blinking them a few times in confusion. Before her was a cat she had never seen before. They were a dark gray tabby with a distinctive white chest and paws; their amber eyes sparkling and twinkling like stars or far away Twoleg-place lights.
"Who...?" Hazel managed to croak out, before starting to cough, her throat feeling raw.
"My name is Cricketwhisper." The strange cat, a tom as Hazel realized, answered warmly. "You were very brave to try and stay on your only home. Although, I am sad to say that you make have made a dreadful error in doing so."
As quickly as she aching joints would let her, Hazel looked at Cricketwhisper, trying to understand what this strange cat was going on about. "What are you going on about?"
"My, my. You really don't know, do you?" The strange tom seemed to frown, his expression turning serious.
"Know what?" Hazel looked around herself, realizing that they were seemingly standing on some kind of endless puddle that rippled much like the sea had. The water sparkling and dazzling as it reflected countless stars from the sky and even her own image back at herself.
"You're dead."
Hazel flicked her head straight ahead, staring dumbfoundedly as the dark gray tabby blinked solemnly. "I can't be dead."
"You are." He whispered, his tone cold and almost harsh. "When your home on the water was sinking, it was dragged to shore where it crashed in one of the huge waves that hit due to that storm."
"Did... did anyone survive?" She whispered, chills of fear and denial creeping through her pelt.
"Very few." Cricketwhisper confessed softly. "I've lived on the place that the storm wrecked that water-monster onto. That all changed when a storm, very much like the one you were experiencing wiped out my Clan. While the ancestors I should have walked with invited me to be with them, I have wandered the beach looking for a way to bring back what was lost."
"I'm sure that few could, but I don't think they would survive for long." Hazel murmured.
"That may be true, but as a cat of StarClan, I wish to give you a chance of a lifetime."
Hazel blinked dully. "What do you mean?"
"StarClan is- well, was, something I believed in. I might not actually be one, but I already visited your sea-mates and I know I may never belong to StarClan. I just need you to know, there is a way for you to live again."
"I've lived a long enough life." Hazel argued, her tail lashing in the air. "And I'm already dead!"
"If you become a leader of a new Clan, you can have nine lives, well eight since you're dead; I will just give you eight more and you should be able to live long enough to see your Clan grow and succeed." Cricketwhisper explained. "It's a gift from me, a lost spirit, to you."
"No. Let someone else do it-"
"I've already chosen you." He interrupted her sternly. "By the power of the spirits that held me to the living, I call upon them to look upon this brave and seasoned she-cat before me. I, Cricketwhisper, wish to give you eight lives to spend with the cats who have survived and bring forth a Clan to begin a new legacy this land has ever seen. Would you give me the honor to bless you with such lives?"
Hazel hesitated, before finally giving in. She knew no matter how hard she argued, that the young tom had made his choice. "I do." She conceded.
"By the power of the stars, wind, earth, and moon; I give you this gift of your eight remaining lives to help you have the strength to overcome your fears." Cricketwhisper spoke strongly, taking a pace forward to touch his nose to Hazel's forehead.
The aches and pains Hazel felt remained, seeming to slowly intensify as her consciousness seemed to wane.
"You will now be known as Hazelstar."
.
.
The soothing roar of the waves as they licked at the beach slowly welcomed Hazelstar's ears. Her head was throbbing, her ears ringing, and her body so sore that she was sure she must have been pulverized. Yet, there was a hush of voices somewhere nearby full of concern as she opened her eyes.
"Hazel, you're awake!" Gasped a familiar mew.
Hazelstar looked over, blinking owlishly as she saw the pale gray and white tabby. "Sleet?"
"Yes! I'm so glad you remember me!" She chirped happily, hurrying to her side. "We found you not far from the wreckage and it looked like you took a nasty hit to the head. Although, for some reason we couldn't find where all the blood came from..." Her pale green eyes clouded with thought. "I suppose it doesn't matter, you lived and that is more than enough."
The pale brown she-cat sat up carefully. "Right, but what do you mean by wreckage?"
Sleet looked away. "The sea-monster. It hit the beach hard and splintered all over the sand and rocks. It must have flung you a good distance away. That storm was something awful."
Hazelstar nodded slowly, not wanting to jostle her throbbing head too much. "And is it just you and me or someone else too?"
"Oh, we have Rusty, Rain, Dark, Hail, and Heather." She brightened up. "They managed to survive the wreck, but we haven't managed to find anyone else yet."
"That's a relief." Hazelstar breathed softly, relief flooding her bruised body.
"Although, we did managed to share a strange vision of a dark gray and white tabby tom." Sleet started slowly. "I don't know how we did, but it happened. The strange cat gave us names he thought were fitting. Like He named me Sleetcrash since I was unscathed from the wreck. The others became Darkwhisper, Rainstripe, Rustyfeather and Haillaurel."
"And Heather?" She prompted.
The pale gray she-cat sighed softly. "She said her name should come from you when she is at least 12 moons old, so he called her Heatherpaw."
"Such an odd fellow." Hazelstar groaned, rubbing a paw on her cheek to remove some sand from her fur. "He did the same to me, too; but different. He said he gave me eight lives to spare since I already was considered dead and all."
"Really? But you were breathing when we found you." Sleetcrash pointed out curiously.
The pale brown she-cat nodded. "Well, anyway, he named me Hazelstar and told me to make a Clan to be a leader of since his was lost to a storm similar to what we experienced."
"How would we do that? There isn't many of us and it's not like we have enough toms for the she-cats." She muttered.
"I don't know, I guess we find out as we go." She confessed.
Sleetcrash nodded, warmth in her eyes. "Right, well I suppose we could at least think of a name for our group, or Clan as he wishes to call us."
"What would we even call ourselves?"
"Well, StormClan has a nice ring to it." The pale gray she-cat suggested. "I mean, a storm caused us to meet that weird cat and us to somehow be alive."
Hazelstar thought a moment. "I guess. I didn't really want to be a leader, but I suppose it won't hurt. It's not like StormClan is the worst name either."
Slowly, she started to leave the little hiding spot that she was kept in, her paws sinking in the sand as she was welcomed by rain washed blue skies and white puffy clouds. The sea-monster she once called home fractured and splintered around her. Its hull cracked open, making a nice spot to leap onto to give announcements if she wanted to, some of the rocks in the surroundings made small caves for them to hide within.
Rustyfeather noticed her as her pale blue eyes brightening with glee. "You survived? I didn't think you were going to make it!"
"Well, I'm tougher than I look and I have more time to spend here now." Hazelstar responded, feeling more at ease now that she could see the cats she now was supposed to lead.
Taking a deep breath, Hazelstar scaled the broken wreckage with as much grace as her bruised body would allow. Her dark brown eyes trained on the small number of cats. She could only hope that she was doing this right.
"As everyone can see, I am now living for another day." She started, squaring her shoulders slightly. "We have all been visited by that strange tomcat, even I have and my name is related to the status bestowed upon me. I am now Hazelstar, whether you use it or not is up to you. To ensure we stay safe, I will ask for Heatherpaw to be kept safely by Rainstripe."
"Kept safe? Are there dangerous things here?" Heatherpaw asked, her tail bushing with fear.
"I don't know and I'm not taking any risks. We will travel in pairs to explore this new territory." Hazelstar explained, adding in swiftly, "Should we meet another cat, claim yourself as a StormClan-cat. It's more of a placeholder name to bend to the wishes of that odd tom we met before waking up here. It might stick if we can't think of something better, but it will be part of our history. That storm threatened us and now we have survived it. Now, we just need to explore and make ourselves at home."
"What if something happens to you?" Haillaurel asked with a tilt of her ghostly cream head.
"I will pick someone to will be destined to take my place." She promised, "So do not worry, I won't let it sit for too long."
Sleetcrash spoke up next, "Well since Rainstripe is the only one with a younger cat under her wing, maybe she should be, just temporarily at least?"
"Very well, but I will change that once I've finalized my decision." Hazelstar promised, looking over the newly made Clan. "Now, let's gather as much information as we can."
Allegiances: Moon 0
Leader: Hazelstar - long furred pale brown she-cat with bronze-colored eyes
Deputy: Rainstripe - long furred dark gray and white tabby she-cat with gray eyes
APPRENTICE: HEATHERPAW
Healer: Sleetcrash - long furred pale gray and white tabby she-cat with pale green eyes
WARRIORS:
Darkwhisper - long furred dark gray tabby and white tome with yellow eyes
Haillaurel - pale cream ticked tabby she-cat with hazel eyes
Rustyfeather - dark ginger tabby she-cat with pale blue eyes
APPRENTICES:
Heatherpaw - dorsal-striped light brown and white tabby she-cat with heather-blue eyes
Author's Note:
Based on a current Clangen run with the Shipwreck from the beach biome.
This story will go over several moons in a single chapter as I am doing a 100 years in game.
At the end of each chapter the allegiances will be there if a new cat or cats that join the Clan.
For now, the story takes place through the eyes of Hazelstar. When the first kit of the Clan is apprenticed (or a cat believes themselves to be part of a prophecy) OR when Hazelstar passes on will the point of view change.
Thank you for stopping by and reading; have a fantastic morning, day, evening, or night. - NightSky