The Dark Forest Reign: Our Present, Our Future

I had no idea of where to post this, so…yeah. This is divided in two:



A choice to make (Right after the gathering)

We all know that several cats left during the gathering, but what about the cats that didn’t go? I’m sure that this will be a shock to most of them and, as I said in the cbox yesterday, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a second all-out battle between the Dark Forest followers and the cats that are in their camps, though I dunno.
Will the cats that would rather leave than stay for whatever reason were exiled in a time-skip or we’ll rp it out?



Stars that hide between the darkness

Many of our StarClan loyal cats, and even some neutral cats, decided to stay behind in the clans instead of following their clanmates into exile for many reasons (Family, friends, protection, hopes…), but we all know that regardless of what Morningstar makes them say or do, they will never bow down to him if given the choice and probably will be more willing to fight against them than with them when the time comes.

So I was wondering: “Who are these cats? What are their reasons?” Since I’m sure that most of us have at least one that will fit in this category. And let’s be honest, since they decided to stay they probably will be a huge threat to the Dark Forest, as they will be StarClan’s eyes and ears inside the territories and until the time comes, the Dark Forest cats probably won’t be able to tell most of them apart from their loyal followers, giving the clans a possible upper paw in battle with all the information they managed to gather.

So…who are your cats that stood behind? Why they decided to stay in the clan? Is there a possibility of their light getting engulfed by darkness or will they shine when the final battle arrives?

Tawnypaw and Sunpaw are mine - Stormkit has no idea what's going on.

I've noticed that the majority of cats staying in their Clans would be delighted to leave, but needed to stay to protect their kits, fathers, and mothers. Family basically.

My cats Vixenpaw and Frostedpaw left at the Gathering because Vixenpaw has nothing to lose really, and she needed some sort of drama plot, and Frostedpaw will certainly get romance drama from this.

My cat Cinderkit is going to stay with the exiles, too, and train as a medicine cat apprentice for Leafheart.

Seedpaw stayed behind in the Clans because she thinks the Dark Forest is going to help the Clans. She's young and rash and thinks she's doing the right thing, but will be devastated when she realizes that it was wrong.

Morningpaw is apart of the Whispers plot because nothing was happening with her and she needed a plot.

And that's basically all of my cats and their reasons for staying and going during the DF plot madness.

Well, as for my trainwrecks, both of my clan cats are staying.

Webtail has been determined to prove those who told him that there was no reason to go with the Dark Forest, especially Viperfang and Thinstripe. He kinda lost that drive when Ferretshine left and the majority of ShadowClan. His main drive now is to just keep ShadowClan strong and keep the remaining family he has safe. He has no feelings towards StarClan, he was born while everyone thought they stopped helping and felt the same with the mishaps in his clan. As long as it benifits in his eyes, he'll be loyal to the Dark Forest. 

Lightningpaw is very stubborn, he will stick to what he says even if he no longer believes that it is true, mainly, Ferretshine's view on the Dark Forest. Since she thinks that Webtail brought him into it, he is determined to probe he can do it on his own as, he wasn't brought into the Dark Forest by Webtail and neither knew until the second gathering. He hates seeming weak and (ironically) hates feeling betrayed. In other words he's too stubborn to leave and likes the idea of being strong, he's not going anywhere anytime soon.

I feel like I need to go into more detail with Stormkit though. Stormkit's apprentice ceremony is going on now, but a short while after she becomes an apprentice, she's kidnapped by Twolegs to come live with them. Note that prior to this, she's fully aware of the DF and wants to run away but has no idea where she'd go. At first she's happy that she's away from the DF, but she finds herself missing her Clan, and eventually she escapes. On her way back she runs into the exiled cats who recognise her - she was the loud-mouthed, weirdly energetic, bubbly kit, after all. She stays with them until the plot is over/the exiled cats return.

I just noticed I forgot to put mine’s (Fail XD):

Blizzardpaw:
My precious cinnamon bun decided to stay behind because she believes that she can help the cats around her to return to the right path and maybe even get a second chance from StarClan, yes, that includes the Dark Forest ghosts. She’s a bit of a neutral cat between the both ancestor groups, mostly because of what Sunwhisker told her at the gathering, which made her believe that not every Dark Forest cat is evil, some just needed a paw in their life to not lose hope, and maybe this is the time for them to get it.

Moonpaw:
Moonpaw was loyal to StarClan, never doubting that they would always be there in their time of need…and then Crowstar decided to follow the Dark Forest. She has Crowstar, Antdrop and Tinypaw in a gold pedestal thanks to their actions during her kithood, unable to see them as anything else but true heroes and role models for her, and with Crowstar’s sudden reveal of his loyalties, followed by Antdrop’s apparent support, she’s no longer sure of the path she should follow anymore. Part of her tells her that her choice to follow their example and swear loyalty to the Dark Forest is terribly wrong, but the part that sees them as her heroes tells her that she made the right decision, and that they are doing this for a good reason.

Nightpaw:
Let’s be straightforward here…Nightpaw hates the idea of following the Dark Forest, and if she could, she would leave her clan and join the exiled cats in no time at all. The only reason of why she’s staying is because her family decided to stay too and she can’t bring herself to leave them behind like that. She, if asked, will help the exiled cats with whatever thing they need, from information to stealing herbs or prey for them, consider it done! When the final battle arrives, she’ll immediately take StarClan’s side, no questions asked.

Owlpaw:
This is unstable ground. Owlpaw is deeply hurt and also angry because of his father’s decision to leave him behind without a second thought, and after each passing day the feeling that Mudfoot no longer cares about him sinks in more and more, even if it’s probably not true. If he stays somewhat good or turns into a ruthless Dark Forest follower will depend a lot on the influences surrounding him, the new mentor that is assigned to him and how he’s trained until the time for the final battle arrives.

Goose:

Yeah, he decided that the DF is way stringer and is already doing a better job than StarClan. If they can prove him wrong, he'll change his mind.

Scorch:

He couldn't leave his kits behind, especially with Pepper leaving and all. But now that he's deputy...

Shhhhhhh. This part's a secret. I gotta talk to Pika about it, but Scorch has big plans. Watch out for a mini-plot... ;)

Gentlenose stayed because she couldn't leave her family behind, and she wants to help Scorchfrost and Blizzardpaw with whatever either of them are planning. :3

Rippleshadow stayed because she's very loyal to her clan but wants to get rid of the Dark Forest. She thinks leaving would solve nothing at all and staying is a far better option. I was thinking of killing her for a valiant cause. Like saving someone else's life.

Mistcloud left and will die soon.

Fawnpaw went on the Starclan retrieval mission and doesn't exactly realize the Dark Forest has completely taken over. She thinks she's still part of Windclan...

Marigoldpaw couldn't leave, she's still kinda young. The few family members she has left stayed, and one of her older sisters is now the new Dark Forest leader of Thuderclan. Marigoldpaw is scared and her only instinct is to stick with her brother, Jayflight.

Beetlekit stayed because he wants to protect Stormkit; not to mention, he hasn't really figured out a way to escape yet. He also wants to overthrow the dark forest and free his people, but doesn't know how to do that yet, either. He'll focus on his plans in apprenticeship, but he may be able to be swayed by the dark forest and convince himself to join their cause.

Right now, he isn't really doing it because he believes in StarClan (nor necessarily the dark forest), but because he believes in WindClan and feels as if he has no other options to turn to.

Pen, I might have figured out a way for Beetlekit to be a part of Stormkit's mini-plot: he could witness her being chased onto the Thunderpath and taken by the Twolegs. How he reacts to that depends on how you think he would (but I'm guessing it would be something along the lines of panic, haha)

I'm not sure whether she would go back with the exiles or back to her Clan now- realistically, though, she'd go back to her Clan, missing Beetlekit and sick of the Twolegplace, I think.

Falconestone followed Fawnpaw because Thinstripe died and Pika needed a warrior, so he has no idea what happened.

Kestrelstorm would rather die than leave Tigerstorm.

Hawkkit is a tiny bun just born.

Lionsong is HARDCORE DF.

Sedge will find out as well about his father becoming evil and learning he has a stream of the Dark Forest in his blood and freak out.

Misty will join the Dark Forest, following her fathers foot steps.

Jay might be a psychopath in the future.

Muddy might tell Webtail about the training lesson with Cinnamonstep and demand a new mentor.

Toadclaw will stand loyal to the Dark Forest but only to protect his kits, family, and siblings.

Spider doesn't know about anything but will probably find out soon.

Frog/toadkit is yet to be born.

Cinnamonstep got defeated in a battle by vixenpaw, she is slowly getting crazier, and is in a plot with vixenheart.

Dipper is so young and is a kittypet so he doesn't know and isn't affected.

Nick is yet to know and is currently in a romance plot, he is yet to be affected.