A Commentary On Clan-Life (Open)

Grasswhisker paced nervously among the stars, staring down at the clans with worry. At first she had been worried about leaving behind her mate, apprentice and newly born kit in Thunderclan, but she knew all would be well there. There were scars that her death had left, though, they were already healing. It didn't make her feel like she was forgotten. Knowing they would be okay gave her peace, but things were not well with the clans right now. It wasn't all bad, but she saw something coming. In life, the she-cat never involved herself in other clans affairs. However, in Starclan, the whole forest was visible and ever cat paid attention to the gatherings.

When Wolfpaw caused a disturbance, it had upset all of Starclan, which is why the gathering was ended. But there would be more. From her place, Grasswhisker peered down at the young, grey she-cat. She had so much potential, The eternally young warrior thought to herself sadly. She knew there were dark times to come. This would turn into more than just a scuffle at a gathering. Wolfpaw had a growing darkness that surrounded her soul. When she was a kit, Grasswhisker had not been around to see it. Now, she watched with interest as the Shadowclan apprentice's heart grew harder against the clans. It was frustrating to watch. But Grasswhisker knew it would only get worse. The grey coat of this cat reminded her of her own daughter. Cinderkit had a solid family and clan support, even without her mother she was okay. This was where Wolfpaw was different. Between her mixed heritage and struggle to come to terms with things, her aggression and internal pain and darkness would only grow.

"How do you do this!?" She yowled to no cat in particular in frustration. All of her longed to go down and intervene. Maybe if I could just convince the Shadowclan cats not to exile her... Grasswhisker knew it would come eventually. It was in this cat's destiny, and it would be her downfall. She continued to watch with interest, hoping one of the older Starclan cats would come to help her make sense of things. And maybe allow her to do something. It would take the spirited cat sometime to settle into Starclan life.

A starry pelted silver and gray she cat had heard the yowl. She blinked her soft blue eyes before she came over to the sound. She paused seeing Grasswhisker and her features softened. She approached the former queen quietly.Softsong sat beside her slowly taking a look to what she was and she gave a gentle sigh."is what happened with Wolfpaw bothering you?"she asked her.


Edit:sorry it's Softsong my device was being rude

"Yes..." She breathed back, not taking her eyes off of the world below. It was painful to watch the apprentice-aged she-cat hide next to her mentor. The loneliness, anger, and confusion that was evident to her plagued Wolfpaw. And none of the living cats could see the destruction that would come later on from all of this. Finally, Grasswhisker's eyes darted up from the ground to meet Softkit's, "I wish I could help."

Another she-cat, much much bigger than the other two appeared from behind them. Star coated pelt heavy brown fur littered with scars, a vibrant forest green on her right, and milky blue eye on her left. The cat with large paws and obviously muscle bound form stopped beside the kitten, dwarfing it more as she took a moment to watch the cats split apart at the four trees. The she-cats seeing eye misted and her face seemed to darken. "I knew cats - a cat like that, Thunderclan queen. A very, very dangerous cat. That she-cat will have blood on her paws." She hissed, claws raking at the clouds and dirt. Her rough brown fur raised along her back.

The she-cat rounded behind the two she-cats to loom over the Thunderclan Queen, she did not know her name but she wished to do something. "I know the type, that cat will fight and murder any cat in their path. If this is your fault this she-cat brings blood to my home Thunderclan Queen that blood will be on your paws!" She snapped, positively raging and spitting.

"YOU CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE THE TERROR AND ALL THE BLOOD, ALL THE PAIN THAT CATS LIKE - LIKE HER WILL BRING TO THE FOREST, TO THE MOOR, TO THE RIVER, AND TO THE PINES!" She yowled and screeched, fur all fluffed out as she paced before stilling and forcibly lying her fur down, breath slowing as she looked to her paws lost in memories.

"Don't let this happen, you can summon that she-cat here while she dreams. I've done it with Darkstar and Sleet." The she-cat whispered, still looking at her huge light brown paws.

Fadedlight blinked as she heard the yowls and screeches of another cat. She trotted over, her amber eyes searching the hunched body of the huge she-cat. The elder stopped to look at the other two cats as well, and her eyes locked softly with Grasswhisker's. The was sorrow and joy to see a Clanmate. "The Gathering has been terrible." she meowed, looking at the deceased ThunderClan queen.

Grasswhisker flinched while the strange, far older cat spoke. It was true destruction was her path. However, it shouldn't have been this way. Wolfpaw once had so much potential to become an amazing cat, but circumstances had been cruel. The other cat's words made her head shake slowly with sadness and she looked up, "There's nothing I can do by talking to her. Maybe the Shadowclan leader. Her exile will only seal her fate. But her undoing is inevitable." Sadness brimmed her shimmering, green eyes.

She offered a soft smile to Fadedlight, but agreed, "Yes. Yes, it has."

Tigerblaze appeared, then, his striped pelt gleaming, muscles beneath his thick pelt rippling. The warrior's face, infinitely contorted into something younger than he was, was blown over with fear. "It's happening," the tom murmured, stalking over to Grasswhisker and Fadedlight, huge shadow falling over them. "There's one in Shadowclan…there's one in Windclan." He looked toward them, a depressed cover over his yellow eyes. "There's nothing we can do but watch. Dreams cannot change the fate of a cat."

Bumblepaw sniffed from his corner. "Hmmph—new nuisances?" he asked, padding up to the group. His eye wasn't so watchful as it used to be. "And they disrupted a Gathering. And I thought I was disrespectful!" Bumblepaw's orbs glared with disapproval, the bullion tom; a former ThunderClan apprentice, lashed his tail. The faint black markings on his pelt reminded them of two of his namesakes—he was always bumbling, and he looked like a bee. The often conceited StarClan resident licked a paw.

"Well at least you didn't break a sacred truce."
The speaker this time was Wrenpaw, the former apprentice of WindClan. The cream apprentice padded up to the group of starry cats after listening to Bumblepaw's statement. While the small skirmish at the Gathering had not featured WindClan, Wrenpaw's concern was still on it.
"Dreams mean different things to different cats. However, I do agree with Tigerblaze on this one. We don't dictate the future, we only guide it. A dream won't benefit us or them." She said, her blue eyes glittering.

"That's true..." Her eyes glazed over as she watched Wolfpaw intently. Although, unlike the cats that had just joined them, she was more saddened rather than angry. Yes, it upset her the truce was broken, but Wolfpaw's misguided feelings would only be made worse by the fallout of this event. The cats would blame her. Owltalon had been harassing her, it was partially his fault. But what was going to happen would far outweigh how a few cats felt about tradition being broken. Some of the forest cats were about to face a very dark time. For a moment, her eyes shifted to the barn where Bear was starting to force cats into his group. When your paths cross, things will only get worse.

"I'm not used to simply watching yet," She breathed softly with a sigh, "I wish I could help her. She reminds me so much of my own kit, but without any guidance."

The large she-cat listened to the other Starclans bicker, basically spitting out that there was no hope for change. Rage bubbled up and out of the she-cats throat as she spun around to face all of them, tail lashing. "Cowards! Fate can be changed! Fate is but a predetermined path, but you must believe that you can walk other trails! The lot of you disgust me!" The heavy-set she-cat hollered, her claws raking at the ground beneath her as she spun to look down at the now empty four trees.

"You all are but mouse-hearts, you all act wise as if the hunger of leaf-bare and your fate in this never affected you! These cats look up to use to keep them safe!" She roared and raved, disgust and hate driving her on. "Where was Starclan when claws ripped through our pelts huh? When a blood thirsty tom sprouted fear in our hearts? We are generations of countless cats so why don't we do something about this! These cats shouldn't have to suffer!" The Thunderclan cat snapped and spat.

The she-cat began to pace again, shoving into any cat that crossed her route as she paced in circles over and over again. "What is the point of us being around anyways? If we do nothing but say vague prophecies? We send countless cats to their death." She hissed, though much more quietly.

Fadedlight looked up at the huge tabby tomcat thatpadded up to them. She lowered her head, ears plasered onto her head and eyes glinting vaguely at the ground. "What can we do... they remind me of when I had thought I lost my memories. But then I had the guidance of my Clanmates. I was not shrouded in spite and hatred..." she meowed grimly.

Quietly, a silver tabby appeared among the bickering cats, a exasperated look across her worn face. She was a mother to many, and the care she always held had never left her, even in the stars. It displeased the she-cat spot see such arguments, but it seemed as though this one was necessary. "Fate can be changed. Not just hers, but all those others down there. My adopted daughter's was changed. My own was changed the moment Saltpelt died. However bitterly you have just put it, you are right." Heatherstripe meowed, softly yet sternly. "I would not go that far, but we are here to keep them safe. We only give those vague prophecies so they can't know too much. It's for their own good. Yes, they look to us for guidance, yes, they suffer, and sometimes it seems meaningless. But we need to let them walk their own paths. We do not choose what they do with their life - we can help and guide, but we cannot control the raw impulses that come with the simple fact of being alive. It's up to them to see if they live their life well. We cannot coddle fine warriors like they are naive kits - after all, the joy of living is freedom to choose." The former WindClan queen finished with an apparently calmer tone, but she spoke with a hint of passion. Whether her StarClan companions agreed with her was another story, but for now, she was satisfied.

"Indeed, Heatherstripe," rasped Bumblepaw, the apprentice bobbing his head to the former WindClan queen to signal his agreement. At that moment, he held a wisdom beyond his years. But, his pelt prickled; he felt like rounding on the spitting ThunderClan cat, who roared and raged violently, but he didn't. His ears on an inclined slant, casting a small, spanning shadow across his skull, he spoke his part. "As though we can turn the path of others; no. I've tried. I've tried to make it, as though Meadowlight never went missing." Bumblepaw's eyes deflected sadly in the mystical light. "I did, too, but oh, sometimes we can't fight our emotions. I could be a warrior right now if it weren't for my own foolishness." he said, a low growl rising up in his throat. He sat back and yawned, gaze still slitted against the pale blue gloss.

"Her path is unfair..." The former Thunderclan queen commented when Heatherstripe spoke, eyes glazed over with sadness and compassion. Below, all of the clans hated her for ending the gathering. Some of the Starclan cats did too. But can't they see what she could have been? Grasswhisker continued to fix her gaze below as the others threw in their comments. It all made sense to her, but she wished it didn't. She longed for another path for the misunderstood apprentice.