New leaves, New beginnings[C]

Sootkit poked his head into the elder's den, his gaze instantly landing on the huge form of the elder, Brakenwing. Brakenwing always told the best stories, so whenever the tom-kit got bored he would come to the elder's den in hopes of a story. "Hello!" He chriped as he plopped himself next to the elder. He pushed a small daisy towards the large she-cat, hoping to get the elder in a good mood so that she would tell him a story.

Brackenwing smiled as one of the kits poked his head into the den. Her leg was bothering her, so she'd been scarce around the rest of the camp that morning, but the usually reticent she-cat was glad to have some company. The den was lonely, not that she'd ever admit to it, with just herself and Whisperear, who was outside.

"Hi, Sootkit," She greeted, smiling softly at the daisy the kit set down next to her. "Thank you," The kits could be quite thoughtful, she'd found, and she appreciated the gesture. "Here for a story?"

"Yup," Sootkit mewed, snuggling into the bedding to get comfortable. "I want to hear about the Great Quake!" The older warriors talked about it as if it was a really bad time, and maybe it was, but it couldn't be worse then when the Dark Forest took over, right? He didn't know any of the details because his mother always told him not to ask questions, but he was so curious!

The great quake, that had been an interesting time for the forest. "The great quake was like nothing anyone had ever seen before, and I hope we don't see it again." She began, "I was out hunting with Flutterpetal when the ground shook, as if it was trying to shake us off of it like we were an unwelcome attacker. The ground rumbles a little near the thunderpath that borders our territory, but nothing like the great quake. The ground opened up in front of us, a big chasm. We were lucky not to fall in, or we might not have made it out." It had been terrifying at the time, so much so that Brackenwing hadn't actually realized she'd broken her leg until she tried to put weight on it when she picked herself off the ground. "It felt like it lasted forever, though in reality it couldn't have been more than a few moments. Flutterpetal had to help me back to camp, because I must've injured my leg when the earth shook so suddenly. We weren't expecting it, that was for sure." She paused then, glancing at the kit. "We did make it to camp... And then it was decided that we would go to fourtrees. Who knew how safe our territory was when that massive chasm opened right in front of us? We sure didn't. And the other clans had the same idea. I thought fourtrees was crowded at gatherings, and those are only warriors and apprentices, sometimes an elder or two. Not absolutely everyone."

Sootkit's eyes flew wide open at the description. A huge chasm opening up in the ground? Like a giant crack, with no bottom... The tom-kit shivered at the thought. Brakenwing must have been terrified, especially with an injured leg. How lucky he was not to have been born at the time! But his mother must have been, and that must be why she was so reluctant to talk about it.

"It must have been really scary..." He murmured, pressing closer to the elder as if the ground might open up at any moment and take him. "But you must have been brave, and all four clans banded together to help each other fix the problem, right?" He guessed the outcome, eyes bright with excitement. "I bet you met loads of cats from other clans and made many new friends!" Maybe it wasn't such a good thing that he had not been born back then.

((Sorry for the delay and short response, things got busy the last couple days!))

"It truly was, none of us had any idea of what was happening, not the leaders or medicine cats." To say it was chaotic would be an understatement. She hoped that Sootkit, and the other younger kits and 'paws, would not have to experience something similar in their lifetime. "The clans did try to work together, but when twolegs swarmed fourtrees one day, we all had to scatter. Windclan made it to highstones - where the moonstone is - alongside Shadowclan, but a lot of cats were also captured by the twolegs. Eventually they would find their way back to the forest, then more would be captured. I wasn't among the first group to get captured, but the twolegs got me too. My leg was steal healing, and they set these silver vine-like things on the ground..." Brackenwing shook her head. "I found myself taken to the same place they took Whisperear, it was a farm, but not the ones we can see around the forest. There were a few Shadowclanners and even a loner with us, all hoping for an escape."

Sootkit listened with baited breath as Brakenwing continued. The little tom's face fell into a frown at the mention of the clans scattering. Why didn't they stick together? Maybe they could have worked it out together instead of having so many cats captured. Questions swirled in his mind before one popped out, "Why do the Clans always fight amongst each other? Why don't they just share the whole forest so that none of the Clans are ever lacking?"

The more Sootkit thought about it, the more it made sense. We wouldn't lose warriors in battles over borders, we wouldn't have constraints over who we can be friends with, and no clan would ever lose cats because of lack of food or herbs.

"Our relationship with the other clans - Shadowclan especially, is not the best. They are constantly at our borders, since I was an apprentice." The kit was idealistic, and for a moment Brackenwing wished she could share in it. Life had taught her otherwise, however. "Our warriors have aggravated that tension in the past, too. So long as cats can't respect borders or rules, there will always be tension among the clans."

"Each clan has their own unique territory, we are distinct from one another. Windclanners run the moors, Skyclan climbs trees, Riverclan can swim and fish. I don't think we're meant to be one, honestly. Our territories provide for us, but only so long as they aren't overrun and overhunted." She added, "That's not to say we don't help each other in times of need, because we do. But those alliances never last, and peace doesn't hold for long." The tension between Shadowclan and Windclan seemed to have faded, but Brackenwing didn't trust it. Shadowclan and the other clans were something to be wary of, plain and simple.

Sootkit listened to Brakenwing with a frown on his face. "If living seperately is really for the best of the clans, then we shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves!" He persisted. It just wasn't fair, losing lives because some cats were taught to defend an invisible line from their neighbours.

"The clans are simply too different from one another, for all that we share the same code and belief in Starclan." Brackenwing tried to explain with a sigh, "And some of us would like to adhere to the code more than others. There will always be conflict, whether we want it or not, Sootkit." She wasn't sure she was explaining this well at all, especially to a kit, but he was persistent enough that Brackenwing obliged. "When you become an apprentice you'll get to interact with them more at gatherings and on patrol. You'll grow to understand it in time."

Brakenwing seemed confident in her words, and just a little bit tired. Sootkit didn't want to argue with the old she-cat, so he settled on silence. Maybe she was right... there were already many arguements and differing opinions in Windclan, it would be even harder keeping peace in a bigger clan.

"I hope I become an apprentice soon so that I can go to a Gathering!" Sootkit piped up at the mention of a Gathering, "Mother says that there are many cats there, but there can't be more cats than in Windclan right?"

"There's many more cats than just who is in Windclan alone." She laughed quietly at the assertion there couldn't possibly be more. "There's five clans, and many warriors and apprentices in attendance. All the leaders, deputies and medicine cats, and sometimes elders too. Fourtrees isn't very large, so it gets crowded quickly." Brackenwing said, "We're supposed to put our differences aside and keep peace for the night, but it doesn't always stay peaceful."