finally caved and made a warriors sideblog! more about me + main

at the very beginning we start off with sparkpaw and alderpaw (bramblesquirrel kits), larkpaw and spotpaw (lilyheart/stormcloud kits), bristlekit thriftkit and flipkit (ivypool/mousewhisker kits, 4-5 moons old), and blossomfall expecting toadstep's kits (dewnose plumstone and ambermoon)

stemleaf's role is being replaced by strikepaw/stone from shadowclan who seeks refuge in thunderclan during the kin's reign

hollyleaf is the impostor. she starts visiting bramblestar as a spirit and comforting him/letting him vent about how stressful leadership is and eventually, when he is gravely ill from yellowcough, convinces him to let her take control for a while. he accepts and almost immediately comes to regret this

hollyleaf closes off starclan's connection with the living Just For A Little While, so no one can interrupt her in case they misunderstand whats going on :) she'll be back soon :) she just has to fix everything real quick and get all the clan cats to respect the warrior code again :)

skyclan journey mostly goes the same way as it does in TAQ but sparkpaw is a bigger focus. she cultivates a strong relationship with twigkit/paw

shadowclan becomes extremely conservative and strict with rowanstar's leadership after the great battle. the apprentices rebel because their lives are miserable and their loved ones are constantly injured and dying because of pointless battles brought about by pointless traditions

twigpaw brings yellowcough to thunderclan when she's brought back after being held in shadowclan by crowfrost; toadstep and hazeltail die (instead of dying after the great battle) and bramblestar loses a life and allows hollyleaf's spirit in

one of the impostor's first acts is to force leafpool (in shc dealing with the yellowcough epidemic and training puddlepaw) to come back to thunderclan. leafpool refuses, it turns into an altercation, and leafpool ends up dead (not sure on the specifics yet). it's completely accidental but undeniably the impostor's fault for instigating. everyone is horrified but most try to give "bramblestar" the benefit of the doubt, squirrelflight is in shock

darktail arrives at the lake and wins the favor of most of the shc apprentices because he also thinks the clans' traditions and rituals are pointless or actively harmful. he believes that he was rejected from windclan when he was young because of stupid rules about heritage and that, had he been accepted, being a warrior could have saved him and smoke (who lived with an abusive owner). he does not reject social darwinism or the use of violence to get others to bend to your will. to him these are just rules that the world naturally abides by. darktail's use of violence to control others makes the kin into a hell of its own, but to the apprentices looking in it seems more welcoming than the clans because it accepts outsiders and doesn't have strict hierarchies

tigerheart and dovewing flee much earlier, closer to the beginning of the yellowcough epidemic. when rowanstar and tawnypelt are forced out on the night of the gathering, rowanstar gives up on reviving shadowclan without his son and accepts the name rowanclaw when they seek shelter in thunderclan

ummmmm from here i haven't got things laid out super clearly

hollyleaf is easily corrupted by power. she never really grappled with her relationship to the warrior code, not in the tunnels nor in starclan, and her paranoia, egomania, and obsessive tendencies come rushing back. she is fully convinced that she is being fair and just, but desperate times call for desperate measures. clashing with darktail next door certainly doesn't help!

riverclan falls to the kin and windclan closes its borders completely. some cats flee from thunderclan to the kin, and some flee from the kin to thunderclan. notably strikestone and juniperclaw arrive in thunderclan, and strikestone is quickly dissatisfied with the impostor's leadership. he and spotfur are drawn to each other...

frustrated with how her "father" has been acting, sparkfire (pelt) eagerly joins twigpaw on her secret mission to find skyclan. skyclan ends up stopping and making camp about a day's walk from the lake at sparkfire and twigpaw's warning

sparkfire and twigpaw are forced out of thunderclan almost immediately upon returning and they temporarily stay with skyclan; squirrelflight will later join them

bristlepaw/frost is a strict rule follower being raised by two ex-df trainees who are still deeply ashamed of themselves and believe conformity and following the warrior code will allow them to be accepted and forgiven by the clan. the impostor takes a liking to bristlepaw, who is eager to be of assistance in any way that her leader needs. when squirrelflight is exiled after an explosive argument with the impostor, bristlefrost becomes the youngest deputy in recent memory!

tigerheart and dovewing return to thunderclan after many months -- their son, shadowkit, is having bizarre visions of the lake. the kits are accepted into the clan (and shadowpaw is given special attention from the impostor) but dovewing and tigerheart are on extremely thin ice

shadowpaw is receiving visions from.... ashfur! he and hollyleaf Did Not get along in starclan, and he was extremely suspicious of her actions and frequently followed her into the living world as a spirit. when hollyleaf blocked off starclan's connection to the living world, ashfur had been doing his own sneaky sneaking and ended up stranded in the living world. he wants to take down hollyleaf because he hates her and still holds a grudge, not because he actually opposes her beliefs or actions as the impostor. he figures that if he can present shadowpaw to her as a repentant halfclan kit trying to atone for the sins of his parents, hollyleaf will feel drawn to him and will take him under her wing. from there, he can coach shadowpaw on how to bring her down. he doesn't really have a lot of (read: any) regard for shadowpaw's wellbeing in the process and resorts to emotional abuse to get his way

ashfur and bramblestar's ghost communicate a tiny amount, but they aren't on the same page re: what to do about hollyleaf. ashfur at least tells him that hollyleaf closed off communication with starclan. bramblestar ends up spending most of his time trying to comfort squirrelflight in the skyclan camp, but a few times he tries to communicate with shadowpaw when ashfur is away. leafpool's ghost mostly hangs around bramblestar and her living family

darktail ends up being taken down first. all the murders and constant attacks at the border are much harder for the clans to ignore compared to thunderclan's problems. things go mostly like they do in the books, but skyclan's participation takes a Lot of negotiating between leafstar and bramblestar and they retreat to their isolated camp as soon as darktail is defeated

windclan's borders open up and riverclan returns to their territory; the few remaining shadowclan warriors either stay in thunderclan or head to skyclan. several riverclan warriors who stayed in the thunderclan camp now hold a grudge against the impostor, and meet with spotfur and strikestone at the island to plan

there are several skirmishes between thunderclan and its neighbors (shadowclan territory is occupied by riverclan and various rogues), the impostor fiercely enforces borders and several warriors die as a result of the impostor insisting that every minor trespass should be met with a fight

the impostor is attacked by spotfur, strikestone, dappletuft, and conefoot; the latter three die. the impostor asks bristlefrost what spotfur's punishment should be, bristlefrost really does not want her friend to get executed and convinces the impostor that the most effective punishment for spotfur is exiling her from all the clans because her attack was motivated by a "misguided" interpretation of/love for the warrior code, and there's nothing worse than living without a clan/the warrior code. spotfur flees to skyclan and bristlefrost is finally starting to realize how bad things are

skyclan encounters the sisters, who are looking for a place to stay while moonlight has her kits. skyclan still retains a lot of their old customs after being away from the other clans for so long (and not interacting with them much at the lake) and is friendly and welcoming to the sisters. moonlight speaks to bramblestar's ghost and makes him appear in front of squirrelflight, at which point he explains everything to her

this is the point where i'm Really not super sure about how exactly to wrap things up so it's going to get less specific. but i mean i guess i cant come up with anything less plausible than the actual plot of TBC so i can wing it

somewhere along the way sleekwhisker and yarrowleaf try to join thunderclan, yarrowleaf is accepted because she's pregnant but sleekwhisker is rejected for her heavy involvement in darktail's crimes. sleekwhisker kidnaps the kits both to lure tawnypelt & rowanclaw away to exact revenge on them and to manipulate yarrowleaf into staying with her. rowanclaw ends up dead and sleekwhisker can't bring herself to harm the kits so she runs away. fairly similar to canon but nettle is dead and gone. gotta keep this side adventure in because i love sleekwhisker

eventually, the three sides (bristlefrost, shadowpaw and ashfur, & squirrelflight bramblestar's ghost and skyclan) exchange information and fill in all the missing pieces about what's going on. bristlefrost is ashamed of herself for fervently supporting the impostor and they come up with a plan to somehow get hollyleaf to leave bramblestar's body

they manage to kill bramblestar's body and hollyleaf is briefly forced out. ashfur immediately attacks her, and the hate and rage they both feel clouds their minds and transports them to the dark forest. bramblestar takes this opportunity to step back into his body.

shadowpaw knows from training under jayfeather that the dark forest and starclan are physically connected. he and bristlefrost decide to dream themselves into the dark forest for the purpose of making sure that hollyleaf and ashfur are incapacitated and to restore the clans' connection with starclan

bristlefrost finds ashfur and hollyleaf still tussling. she joins in and ends up killing hollyleaf's spirit. ashfur celebrates, and bristlefrost is horrified by the pure hatred and contempt that he holds for hollyleaf and her family. bristlefrost attacks him and they roll into the river in the dark forest, never to be seen again

shadowpaw searches for a way to starclan and is attacked by dark forest cats. he doesn't have any warrior training and is overwhelmed until help arrives: tigerheart, ivypool, and the ghosts of some of the cats who died under the kin and the impostor's reigns. leafpool is here! tigerheart and leafpool search for the starclan border with shadowpaw while ivypool and a few others try and find bristlefrost. they're eventually able to find their way to starclan and they clear the moonpool in whatever way they did in the books idk

with the connection to starclan restored, shadowsight receives his full name and tigerheart takes it upon himself to restore shadowclan and become tigerstar. dovewing and their kits join him in shc. skyclan moves in closer, taking their place at the lake in their current canon territory (twigbranch, violetshine, and sparkfire stay in skyclan while spotfur and squirrelflight return to thunderclan). bramblestar is extremely shaken by everything he's been through and decides that leadership is not for him. thunderclan as a whole decides that nothing like this can ever happen again, and the problem wasn't simply ghost shenanigans. after a series of meetings, it is decided that bramblestar will step down and three elected leaders will ask starclan for three lives each to jointly represent the will of thunderclan. squirrelflight, cinderheart, and spotfur become squirrelstar, cinderstar, and spotstar, and they discuss making changes to the warrior code with the other clans

not everyone is fully on board with radically changing the clans. tigerstar and dovewing are open to the multiple leader idea but most of the remaining members of shadowclan are adamantly against it. skyclan accepts leafstar and hawkwing as joint leaders, but hawkwing wants to wait to receive a new name and lives because leafstar is already down to her last life. windclan likes things the way they are, and riverclan is vehemently against change