#bonefall tnp

[ID: Leafpool from Warrior Cats. She is chunky, has a mane, and green eyes. Her stripes are horizontal.]

I approach Leafpool as being VERY tired. Her life is characterized as never really being in control of her own fate, being punished for any simple pleasures she takes tenfold, so I write her as becoming very defeatist. Poor girl.

Because Leafpool is never in REAL control, somehow, it gives her this air that she's in total control. You can't scare her. StarClan can tell her that her kids are cursed, Hollyleaf can tell her to kill herself, Bramblestar can jump in front of her and snarl, she's never more than briefly phased. "Yeah sure this may as well happen."

In a way, she's almost the total opposite of Jayfeather, who never met a rule he wasn't willing to punch. It is interesting that each one of the Three has a unique relationship to the fate that chains up Leafpool.

Allows herself to love Mothpaw... war breaks out and Moth has to return to RiverClan.

Tries to warn Squilf about Brambleclaw in spite of StarClan wanting them to be together, first fight with her sister ever.

Runs off with Crowfeather, returns home to find out her mentor died before she could say goodbye.

Gives birth, allows Squilf to take them, eventually gets threatened by Hollyleaf.

(side note: i am considering leafpool's name being an honor title, with her old name being Leafstripe, and Squirrelpaw failing two assessments just like Nightheart)

But a big change in my rewrite is that the dramatic scenes that aren't consistent with that resigned sorrow go to Crowfeather. He's a complete and utter ham. Leafpool isn't out here trying to name Hollykit 'Crowkit' or confessing her unwavering love for him in front of his wife and child, THAT is Crowfeather making an ass of HIMSELF in front of that wife and child lmao.

Leaf's feelings are more complicated and repressed. Hard life.

On the bright side though, there ARE changes from canon so that the Clan has more nuanced feelings about her instead of her whole life being a nonstop beatdown.

Most of ThunderClan, which heavily leans Fire Alone, agrees that Leafpool did the right thing by giving her kits to Squilf to invoke the Queen's Rights. Sure she lapsed, but Fire Alone cats are softer on the Cleric's Vow in general.

Bramblestar demoting her in Cruel Season has a VERY mixed reception. It's Leafpool!! Leafpool Moonpool!!!

Her death many years later in the Sister Raid actually tanks Bramblestar's reputation. It was seen as cruel, pointless, and avoidable, and they lost a very popular and experienced Cleric.

(side note again: still considering how the 'unclear sign' plot beat is going to go in my rewrite, because i cannot imagine jayfeather not just lying about that. "yeah yeah yeah they said yes bramblestar, im supposed to heal this cat obviously. move.")

Misc Design Stuff:

She's got a mane that you can see on Dovewing too, since Dove is Leaf's grandchild now.

Like Sandstorm, uncle Longtail, and grandpaw Runningwind, Leafpool's stripes are horizontal.

I'm still doing research into what she has specifically, but Bonefall Leafpool is intersex. Those are stud jowls.

Considering the cat version of PCOS because it explains a lot; weight gain, a receding hairline that could be shared with Lionblaze, the jowls as a facial hair parallel, difficult pregnancy, etc.

Still doing my research though.

Oh it would be super, super cute if this was a sort of "stone soup," like it used to be a thing between Shadow and Wind, but then during the journey, a bunch of cats got together and heard the story like...

Smokepaw of ShadowClan: "A long time ago, ShadowClan used to make a soup with WindClan. That's what the elders taught me!"

Weaselpaw of WindClan: "That can't be too hard to make, right? I can grab some wheat, Thistlepaw and Owlpaw can grab some rabbits."

Owlpaw: "Hoohoo, so the weasel isn't hunting rabbits, ay?"

Weaselpaw: "That's a stoat, mousebrain"

Duskpaw of RiverClan: "...h-hey! Can RiverClan be included in this too?"

Spiderpaw, strolling up with Whitepaw behind him: "And ThunderClan while you're at it!"

The first time this soup is revived, it would be with anything they could find while they were traveling. A lot of crop insects, not very many spices, someone skinned the rabbit wrong and there was a furry paw bobbing around, but... it was theirs.

The apprentices made it together and that was what was delicious about it. Each apprentice, and the little kittens who joined their older siblings for the meal, came away CHANGED by that experience.

So the next time there's a gathering, they agreed beforehand; bring food! Bring food and a pot!

Once they're established better and have good ingredients to bring, ThunderClan brings fruits and squirrels. ShadowClan brings crayfish and spices. RiverClan brings eggs. WindClan brings rabbits and flour.

Russetfur: "EVERYONE SHUT UP. Blackstar has an announcement to make."

Blackstar: "Several moons ago we had warriors who had allowed the code to fall from their hearts. I'm pleased to announce that they have been practicing with the apprentices since then, and are excited to perform the parable of Darkstar's Commandment for everyone here tonight."

*the patrol shuffles foward, begrudging and disgraced, except Ratscar who is actually owning it and dripping with charisma as usual somehow*

I feel like it’d be difficult to sneak out with extra rations with how the Clans were struggling, plus it’d be difficult to carry all the tools required to cook every time they set up camp. It’d be easier for them to eat their prey raw, at least during certain parts of the journey.

Would also be an interesting opportunity to introduce the cast to different foods, too! Rogue groups in twolegplace using vegetables from gardens for flavor, for example. I couldn’t find if there’s salt beds in English mountains, but if there is the Tribe would have way easier access to it than the Clans do. I bet they’d have wildly different cuisine as a result.

Sorry for the long winded ask but your ideas tickle my autistic brain just right fjahfhsh

The Tribe mountain MUST have salt under it, right? The Appalachians and the Caledonians are the same mountain range split up by tectonic shift and I know there's salt in the Appalachians because it's, like, pre-life-on-earth old right? Hangon

*le googel*

YEP there's a lot of salt in Cheshire, one of the counties I use as a model. Which I could have just learned by googling "uk salt mine." However, my brain is a rube goldberg machine.

The Sundrown Patrol DEFINITELY needed a deep cleaning! They would be full of fleas, probably be carrying a couple of bad knots or a couple of mats, and one or two of them definitely caught worms. Probably Squirrelpaw tbh, knowing her impatient little butt (affectionate).

The Tribe wouldn't do a deep deworming though, because that takes time and the Clan cats would want to get home as quickly as possible. They just stayed for the quick celebration to gather some rations and planned to leave... but then the appearance of Sharptooth changed their plans.

(btw if you wanna see how the Sundrown Patrol's Journey to the Lake goes in Bonefall TNP, I made a map and a synopsis!)

Setting up a basic cooking fire wouldn't be TOO hard though! You just keep a couple of sticks to use as spits and roast your prey over the open fire, like either a roast or a marshmallow. Beats dealing with tapeworms for the whole trip.

Funny enough I actually think it's Crowfoot/feather who's the main cook of the little patrol, I keep feeling like Mudclaw was a pretty good chef. He would have passed that onto Crow.

Tawnypelt: "It's almost sunrise, Crowfoot is late... if he doesn't come soon we'll have to go without him."

Crowfoot: "Hold your hedgehogs I'm here. I was making tunnelbuns for the trip."

Squirrelpaw: "Where- what-- how did you do that so fast??"

Crowfoot: "youre weeeeeeeeelcome."

Stormfur: "Hang on, you didn't steal from your own Clan in famine, did you?"

Crowfoot: "??? I mashed my personal larvae stash to make into travel rations and this is the thanks I get??? you think my clanmates were gonna keep my mealworms alive while I was gone?? Mousebrain!"

Brambleclaw: "Yuck, who wants to eat mashed bugs?"

[Wherein Speckletail gets a much cooler death]

The elders simply being left behind in TNP doesn't sit right with me. Add this with my quest to eliminate as many unceremonious offscreen deaths as possible, and we're going to get extra scenes of (hopefully) memorable battles and incidents.

Speckletail is getting a sendoff in early TNP with a real bang.

(also; most of the scenes I write will likely look like this! As I’ve mentioned, I can’t focus long enough to write full prose. I hope you guys enjoy this format though)

[ID: A grown version of Brushpaw from Warrior Cats. He is a ginger-and-white tabby cat with splotchy patches, a white butt, tail, paws, and 'bib'. He has yellow eyes with a distinct blob marking on his right side. He has a round notch in one ear.]

Because he's been coming up a lot lately, here he is! BB!Brushpaw is an ex-BloodClan cat who joins WindClan along with Snapper.

After the BloodClan Battle, Firestar opened up diplomatic negotiations in an attempt to see how much of Tigerstar's Impossible Deal the Clans could still honor. The answer was so simple as to be ridiculous; flowers, wood, novelty food. Things BloodClan can't get in the concrete alleys of Chelford. Leo and Snapper were only two of the traders who would regularly visit WindClan and ThunderClan.

Leo was head-over-paws for Onewhisker almost right away. He rarely went to ThunderClan, always trying to get chosen to go to the moor. He was so smitten, he never realized any of the red flags. Onewhisker wouldn't do public displays of affection, or tell his friends they were seeing each other, and when Leo floated the idea of joining the Clan... Onewhisker gave an affirmative, but not enthusiastic answer.

Tallstar decided to allow Leo and Snapper to join, but only if they went through apprenticeship as a formality. Onewhisker told Brushpaw that it's forbidden for warriors to be with apprentices, even if they are adults, and Brushpaw understood and respected that.

But it didn't get better.

Next, his ceremony was delayed over the destruction. His mentor, Mudclaw, even accused him of being a jinx and that he was bringing the humans to the moor. He went on the Great Journey forced to remain Brushpaw, Tallstar only having the strength to give Crowfeather his Honor Title and leaving him and Snappaw in the dust.

His scar is from fighting in the WindClan rebellion-- one of the rebels jumped on his back and tried to snap his neck. After the fight, Onestar gave the two their well-earned names; Brushblaze for the muirburn that Mudclaw sabotaged, and Snapstorm for the rain that put it out after.

When Onestar became leader, he changed, or... maybe it just revealed something that was always there, that Brushblaze didn't see. Either way, whatever they had was over.

Eventually, he became an ironic friend of Heathertail, helping her bring back tunneling. He died helping her and Breezepelt escape The Kin through a secret passage he constructed with Harespring, collapsing the tunnel so that they couldn't be followed.

Lots of info under the cut

Mintfur RC has been renamed to Mintflower because of conflict with Mintfur SkC, and has had 30 cc of gender injected into his veins

[ID: RiverClan's Mintfur, renamed to Mintflower. He is a large, fluffy gray tabby with silver legs, ear, and chin, with a black chest, arms, and mutton chops. His eyes are orange.]

He was a Tribe cat! He was apprentice-aged when the Clans came through during the Great Journey.

He comes from a line of sheep hunters, one of the most respected abilities of Tribe cats. His old name was Asleep Sheep-by-Shade.

That said, hunting wasn't his calling, especially not big coordinated hunts like what's needed to kill sheep and eagles. He really liked healing and omen-reading, which is how he picked up Old Tribemew.

Even as a kitten, he was known for being laidback and enjoying "lazing" about, hence the name.

Asleep was really big and whispy-furred for a mountain cat, which tend to be "compact" with muscled legs and thick coats.

There was a tragedy when he was young where one parent died during a sheep hunt, and then he lost the other in Sharptooth's attack.

He got really close with Icepaw, and ended up following her to the new territory offering to help RiverClan settle into their new territory.

Asleep got chased out of RiverClan along with Stormfur and Brook Where-it-Swirls during the xenophobic surge and the false sign, but re-joined as soon as Mistystar gave him the opportunity once Leopardstar was dead.

After he had taken his name and become safely settled within Clan society, Icewing found herself considering the events of TNP. She was grateful to have her mate back, but... she had a deep suspicion that Mistystar had done something to Leopardstar. How was that okay? She didn't miss Leopardstar, and she loved Mintflower and the kittens they were expecting, but...

How could murder be okay? Even if it benefited her? Was there even a murder? Icewing needed to get to the bottom of this, and it lead her into the Dark Forest.

Misc things...

He is loosely based off a shetland sheep; I plan to model his kids off herdwicks because those are the iconic sheep breed of the Lake District, UK

Mintflower was the primary parent of the kittens.

A very, "You think he's not watching the kids because he has his eyes closed, but springs into action like a tiger when they try to put something poisonous into their mouth" kind of dad

"petal, i wasn't sleeping, i was resting. also i know youre sneaking up behind me, beetle."

Dad energy

Breezeheart, Nightsky, and Grasspelt are all being cut. His two adult children were Beetlewhisker and Petalfur, and Pricklekit, Breezekit, and Nightkit died young. Icewing didn't take it well.

Took to fishing like a PRO. He's very patient and likes to relax by the riverside.

Never minds having to take minnow-drying duty.

A below-average fighter, he doesn't have it in him to be mean. It stems from Tribe culture seeing fighting as a huge taboo, only done when you're prepared to kill or cause serious damage. It's called "making prey" of someone.

A brilliant hunter when push comes to shove, though.

So early on, I was sitting with Leopardstar and Blackstar, deciding the stories I would tell for them. I agree in-canon Blackstar is a lot worse, but in my TNP rework I realized I had a GREAT story to tell about about Leopardstar.

So, I decided to tell a very long redemption arc with Blackstar, and the importance of preventing Thistle Law from ever taking root ever again with Leopardstar.

Blackstar is a character driven by his guilt, and desire to atone for what he's done. The story begins with his first visit to the Moonstone.

StarClan does not give him all his lives at once. He has trials over many years to earn them. This is symbolized by him being born with a black executioner's hood over his head, and over many years of pressing his nose to the stone and pool, it erodes away from his nose creeping up.

By the time he earns his last one, there's only a black thread across his chest holding the 'hood' together. It snaps when he earns the last one-- from Russetfur.

Russetfur, who was his lifelong best friend, soulmate, and deputy. She mattered more to him than anything else in the world. EVERYTHING he did was for her, and for the people like her, the cats he would have discarded or even killed during his time in TigerClan.

They had a similar sense of humor; dry and sardonic. They mutually FLIPPED their shit at the cats who let Berrynose writhe in that fox trap, and even came up with a very embarrassing punishment together.

Losing her was devastating. It now comes AFTER the Eclipse battle, too, during the reign of Bramblestar. It is the moment that causes him to lapse and be open to Sol's influence. In the meanwhile, Ratscar, Redwillow, and Applefur take control of the Clan to further the agenda of the Dark Forest.

Their dark plans are thwarted when ShadowClan begs Blackstar to come home and rule his Clan. No trickery, no guilt, just love.

He loses his second-to-last life in the Great Battle, with a 2-vs-1 battle. Him and Iceheart against Tigerstar.