the great wcc mate war (sign-ups)

Leopardclaw and Lichenfang are both former rogue kits who were adopted into ThunderClan, and have had a connection to each other every since they first met.  On one of his first patrols as an apprentice, Leopard found Lichen after she had been abandoned by her mother.  He took the kit back to camp and fought for her right to be accepted into the clan just as he had been, to which Darkstar agreed.  She was named Lichenkit, and as the two cats grew up they became close friends.  While Leopard has always been quiet, serious and reserved, Lichen was much more outgoing and optimistic, and she helped to bring out the best in him.  Lichen was one of Leopard's only friends besides his mentor, and even though he never admitted it he cherished her deeply.  

One day though, Lichenpaw was abducted by an evil rogue named Bear along with a couple other ThunderClan apprentices, and held hostage in the barn across WindClan's territory.  Leopard was deeply worried for her, and determined to find her; but she found him first.  She managed to escape the barn and found Leopardpaw while he was hunting, only just managing to warn him about the rogue's intentions before Bear tracked her down.  Leopardpaw tried his best to fight the much stronger tom, but he failed to rescue his friend and she was taken back to the barn.  He knew where the cats were being kept now though, and warned his clan.  All five clans decided at that Gathering to attack the barn and take back the missing cats, and Leopardpaw refused to be left out of the patrol.  He fought in the battle, and in the end was able to rescue Lichenpaw, along with their other missing clanmates.  

While Lichenpaw had been missing, Leopardpaw had realized that he cared for his friend as much more than a friend, and decided to ask her to be his mate.  She accepted, and the two young cats received their warrior names together.  As their lives continued, Lichenfang proved to be a great pillar of support and advice for Leopardclaw as he struggled with his rivalry with Rockthorn, and soon enough they were expecting their first litter.  The couple was at their happiest when little Reedkit, Honeykit and Cherrykit were born, but tragedy soon struck.  Rockthorn's anger came to a head, and he attacked Cherrykit, throwing her against the Highrock, and threatened to kill Leopardclaw's family one by one.  Leopardclaw and Rockthorn fought, and though the insane tom was defeated Leo couldn't work up the courage to kill him.  Soon afterward, Rockthorn was exiled.  

Leopardclaw - and ThunderClan - thought that the worst was over, but soon after a fire engulfed the forest.  The family and most of the clan made it to safety, but little Cherrykit had been weakened severely by Rockthorn's attack, and died after she inhaled too much smoke.  Leopardclaw and Lichenfang, along with Reedpaw and Honeypaw, were devastated, but forced themselves to go on for the good of the clan.  After taking refuge at Sunningrocks for a moon, ThunderClan returned to their camp, and started to rebuild.  Darkstar though decided to retire, and the newly-named Blizzardstar named Leopardclaw as her deputy.  His family was very proud, but thanks to his new duties he began to have less and less time to spend with all of them.  One afternoon they all went out on a patrol, but a strange mist surrounded them, and before they could react Reedpaw and Honeypaw were gone.  

The couple was deeply distraught, and Lichenfang feared to leave camp.  In the moon that followed their kit's disappearance, two she-kits named Birdkit and Orchidkit were born to them, but even though they loved their daughters they would never replace the kits they had lost.  At a Gathering though, the strange mist revealed it's self to be the Dark Forest cat Smokefang, and attacked the clans.  After they had defeated the misty cat and the Tribe cat who had summoned her, all of the missing cats were returned to their rightful clans, including Reedpaw and Honeypaw.  Together again, the family was overjoyed, and as peace returned to the forest the bad times began to fade into memories.  They had another litter - Falconpaw and Mintkit - and adopted a rogue kit named Ivykit.  Falconpaw and Mintkit did not live very long, but Ivykit grew to become a warrior named Ivyshade.  Later they also adopted three she-kits who had been abandoned and orphaned - Heatherkit who became Dawnpetal, Violetkit who became Violetfall, and Flowerpaw who didn't make it to warriorhood.  

As the war between ThunderClan and RiverClan loomed on the horizon, Leopardclaw got even more busy, and had trouble finding the time to spend with his family.  Thus, when tragedy struck once again, Leopardclaw blamed himself for not being there to stop it.  While out on a walk, Lichenfang was brutally attacked by a rogue cat, and left to die.  Leopardclaw and his daughters Birdflight and Orchidfeather - along with Dustcloud - found her just in time, and took her back to camp.  Unfortunately, Lichenfang had suffered terrible damage to her back legs and ears, which affected her movement and hearing.  She was forced to retire to the elder's den before her time, and Leopardclaw began to blame himself.  To be continued...

Shellwater had a pretty tough life. As an apprentice, she was attacked at the RiverClan/WindClan border by an enemy warrior, permanently scarred by his claws. This caused her a lot of issues, such as self-esteem problems and crippling depression. After becoming a warrior, she became mates with her kithood crush, Sleetfang, but they broke up almost immediately after she became pregnant, due to his extensive cheating on her. At this point she had almost given up on life. She was contemplating suicide by the river one day, and nearly drowned when she accidentally fell in, but was saved by Otterleap, after which they became mates. Otterleap had a crush on her ever since they were apprentices, but she never noticed him until then, when she realized that she loved him as well. He catapulted her out of her self-pity and depression, and they were happy together.

Shell's kits from Sleetfang were three she-cats, who Otter had promised to raise as his own- but all three died of a bad outbreak of inactivity greencough as apprentices. When they had their own litter a while later, it also consisted of three daughters: Snowpaw, Sparkwillow, and Splashwillow. During the time when the Mist ran rampant, Snowpaw was killed by it, frozen to death as she attempted to defend herself and her father. Otter was one of the cats who was kidnapped by the Mist and transported to the caves in Starfall territory. This period of time was extremely hard for Shell, as she had to deal with the death of Snowpaw, and then the death of Sparkwillow (bled out while bearing a forbidden mate's kits) soon after, mostly alone. The only thing she held on to was the hope of her beloved mate's return. Unbeknownst to her, while Otter was away in the caverns, he cheated on her with a ThunderClan she-cat, and she bore his kits.

After Otterleap returned from being kidnapped by the Mist, he broke up with her- feeling guilt about what he'd done, and not wanting to face the consequences of his actions- causing what was left of their tiny family to split apart. Splashwillow, their only remaining daughter, stayed on Otter's side, leaving Shell completely alone. Feeling too broken and worthless to defend her Clan any longer, she retired and became an elder, finding her only joy in her grandkits and the various apprentices who clean her den. Otter, meanwhile, is going through several crises of his own after killing the ThunderClan apprentice, Thistlepaw. Who knows, maybe they'll reconcile someday?