#duspelt

God this took me forever but it's finally done :3 I didn't know if I liked this better with out without the lighting lol lmk if you guys have a preference ❤️

Apologies if the scene isn't exact cannon with the characters featured 😭 I've seen so many maps with this scene atp it's so hard to remember LOL

Characters featured:

(Foreground L-R) Tigerstar, Firestar

the DustFern fam!!! a family big enough that I'm going to need to reblog this post to add the old vs new design comparisons

He had gotten used to his new name and mentor. He had found other cats from the past as well, his time or otherwise. He found  Bluestar.  His mentor was still one of the best cats he knew, even out of her depth as she was here. And she wasn’t his mentor this time. She was a cat named Robinflight with a sister named Frostheart. That seemed strange, at first, because Frostheart was the sweetest cat in the world, as far as he knew. 

Sandstorm and Dustpelt were, once again, named apprentices. As was he. As were Greystripe and Ravenpaw. Frostfur’s litter was back in the nursery, scattered to different parents, and Yellowfang was a medicine cat apprentice called Ambersong. 

Flamepaw’s mentor was not Robinflight. Flamepaw’s mentor was a rogue of a she-cat. The leader’s mate was a golden molly called Birchclaw, and she expected her two kittens, Cinderpaw and Darkpaw, to be absolutely perfect, no questions asked. Nevermind the fact that Cinderpaw and Darkpaw were cats from the past who, honestly, had no concept of what was going on. 

Cinderpaw was previously Cinderpelt. When she got her bearings about her three moons after she was born, the first thing she did was run as far away from the nursery as possible. She ended up in the leader’s den. When Lakestar found her after coming back from a patrol, she dashed out of the enclosed space as soon as possible. With no thought to which way she was going, Cinderpaw had tumbled over the Highledge and crashed to the ground. 

Flamepaw had been two moons into his training when that happened. Now Cinderpaw was two moons into hers, and Flamepaw was getting sick of his mentor. Granted, so were the other apprentices. 

“Your crouch is crooked, Cinderpaw! You have four working legs! Use them, instead of lumbering about like a lopsided dog! Honestly, you'll never-.”

"I’ll be the judge of what she can and cannot do.” Frostheart hissed icily, glaring at Birchclaw. “That is my right as her mentor.” 

“I have the same right as her mother.” Birchclaw growled. 

“You really don’t.” Flamepaw found himself saying. 

“Excuse me?” 

“You’re not excused. You’re the furthest thing from it. What you are is a fox-hearted fool who doesn’t know a good thing when she sees one!” 

“I don’t have to take this!” Birchclaw sneered, leaping to her paws. “Sit down and listen or I’ll make you wish you’d never been kitted, let alone had kits yourself.”

Birchclaw was stunned, fur bushed up, claws unsheathed, and eyes wide. She stared at her usually mild-mannered apprentice like he was someone she’d never seen before.

“Flamepaw, that’s enough.” Frostheart murmured uneasily, sensing that the younger tom was ready to howl his rage to the sky. “We’ll deal with how Birchclaw manages her kits back at camp. For now, I’ll see if Robinflight wouldn’t mind spending the day with you.” 

“He just threatened me and you’re favoring him?!” Birchclaw scowled, eyes blazing. 

“He needs to cool off and your treatment of your kits is unacceptable. It’s not my fault you see this as favoritism when there clearly is none.” Frostheart drawled.

“Surely you see Cinderpaw was meant to be something! All she’s been so far is a mouse with a broken leg!” 

“Take that back, you wretched piece of fox-dung!” Lightpaw roared, lunging for the older she-cat. “She fell off a cliff!” 

“Oh for StarClan’s sake…” Frostheart sighed, flicking her tail irritably. “Everyone back to camp!” She ordered. 

The other apprentices watched warily as Lightpaw took her time releasing Birchclaw from a firm grip. When nobody moved even after that, Flamepaw lashed his tail and smoothed his fur. 

Everyone shuffled to their paws. Barkpaw, Spotpaw, Stripepaw, and Darkpaw raced away as soon as they saw Flamepaw get up with a tensed frame.

“Some kind of leader, now, are you?” Frostheart drawled knowingly.

“StarClan willing, I never become deputy.” Flamepaw insisted.

“We’ll see about that, Flamepaw.” Frostheart muttered as she bundled Lightpaw away and marched an angry Birchclaw back to camp. “We shall see.” 

______________________________________________________________

Robinflight burst into laughter when she heard why she’d be needed. Ambersong heard it from where she sat in front of the medicine den, bandaging the shallow wounds left by an angry Lightpaw. 

“Beaten by an apprentice?” Ambersong smirked. “And not even your own… what must the great Lionblaze think of you?” 

“Don’t you dare speak his name!” Birchclaw grumbled. “You know nothing of being a warrior. You couldn’t possibly handle his legacy.” 

“Can you?” Ambersong challenged. “Because from where I sit, you can’t even handle your own daughter.” 

“That’s enough, Ambersong.” Her mentor ordered. “And ease up on the bandages. You’re patching her up, not making her worse.” 

Ambersong dipped her head respectfully enough but she knows that Shallowfern saw the gleam in her eyes. Birchclaw would not get away with harming her daughter so easily. 

“Funny thing about being a medicine cat.” Ambersong drawled. “I’m the one who walks with StarClan. You don’t know what they think of you, and there’s only one way to find out.” 

“Ambersong!” Shallowfern croaked sharply, horrified. “You can’t… Birchclaw, just go. I’ll check on you later.” 

The ginger she-cat limped out of the medicine den and Ambersong turned to face her mentor. 

“I know my duties, Shallowfern. I won’t lay a claw on anyone regardless of how I feel.” 

“Your words run deeper than any mark you could possibly leave. I beg of you to remember that.” Shallowfern insisted. 

“Of course,” Ambersong purred, green eyes bright. “I was called Yellowfang once. Any cat could tell you that the name was earned for her words.”

______________________________________________________________

“StarClan’s kits, Flamepaw, you can’t just-!” 

The apprentices were having a grand old time when Ambersong saw them next. Flamepaw was embarrassed now that it had sunk in just what he’d done, but Lightpaw held no such shame. In fact, she’d do it again in a heartbeat. So would Ambersong. So would any of the cats from the past, especially since an accident almost crippled her a second time.

“I thought I could actually do it.” Cinderpaw scowled. “I thought I could be a warrior.” 

“What makes you think you can’t?” Her brother prompted. “That old harpy getting on you about your stance doesn’t mean you can’t hunt or fight.” 

“But I… I’m not sure I can hunt or fight. Everytime I try, I mess something up.” 

“So ask Frostheart to practice more.” Her brother meowed easily. “Without Mother Dearest snapping at your heels, you’ll be the best warrior in no time.” 

“Thanks, Blackie.” Cinderpaw exhaled roughly. “I’d just hoped this would be easier. 

“Easy is for mice and Twolegs, since neither of them have much in the way of brains.” Ambersong informed the apprentice group. 

“You’re cats, and forest cats at that. If you want to learn something, you’ll find a way, but if it’s easy then you’ve done something wrong.” 

Cinderpaw glared at the medicine cat apprentice. 

“I call foxdung.” 

“Pardon?” 

“I said you’re wrong, Ambersong. Life shouldn’t be too easy, sure, because that’s what kittypets have, but it shouldn’t be hard for no reason. You’re right about one thing, though.” Cinderpaw scowled. “I will be a warrior.” 

“Sounds more like you, Cinderpaw.” Ambersong offered glibly. “Keep that spirit. You will need it if you want to get anywhere, much less to the warriors’ den.” 

_______________________________________________________________

“Shallowfern, Ambersong, thank you for coming.”

Ambersong wasn’t exactly surprised to find that Lakestar called a meeting in her den, but she was stunned at the number of cats there. All of the apprentices as well as their mentors, and Cinderpaw sat beside Lakestar, Birchclaw lounged on the other side of the den. 

“We can’t possibly need all these cats for a family matter.” Birchclaw grumbled. Lakestar didn’t even spare her a glance before addressing the group at large.

“As we all know, an incident took place. I must know the nature of this incident in order to judge you fairly. Flamepaw, Lightpaw, did you attack Birchclaw?” 

“Yes.” Lightpaw declared instantly. “No.” Flamepaw informed them. “I settled for yelling at her.” 

“Why did you yell at her?” 

“She called Cinderpaw useless.” 

“She did what?!” Lakestar’s voice was devoid of all emotions but there was fury in her eyes. 

“‘Your crouch is crooked, Cinderpaw! You have four working legs! Use them, instead of lumbering about like a lopsided dog! Honestly, you'll never-.’” Darkpaw mimicked in a high-pitched tone. “And then Frostheart was like ‘I’m her mentor and I get to decide what she can do.’ 

But Birchclaw was all ‘I’m her mother so I can do that too!’ And Flamepaw jumped in like ‘no you can’t.’ which of course got Birchclaw mad but then Flamepaw called her a ‘foxhearted fool who didn’t know a good thing when she saw one.’ and she tried to leave but he was all ‘sit down and shut up.’ 

Frostheart broke up the argument and tried sending him to Robinflight but Birchclaw said he was being favored. Frostheart was chiller than the lake in leafbare, Mom, she was all ‘it’s not my fault you’re a crappy mother.’ and Birchclaw tried to say that Cinderpaw was supposed to be special but she wasn’t.”

“She called me a mouse with a broken leg.” Cinderpaw mumbled, now curled up at Lakestar’s paws. 

“And that’s when Lightpaw jumped on her.” Darkpaw finished excitedly. “She was all ‘take that back, you wretched piece of foxdung! She fell off a cliff!’ And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat move that fast!”

Lakestar plucked Cinderpaw up with a snarl and lunged across the den, sailing over at least three cats before she landed right in front of Birchclaw. She placed Cinderpaw between them and leaned forward so that her whiskers brushed the sides of Birchclaw’s face. 

“This is our kit. You gave birth to her, we’re supposed to be raising her. She is not a prey animal that you can rip apart with your claws, she is a cat! She is supposed to be your daughter, and you are supposed to love her! How dare you break her spirit like this?!” 

“That miserable scrap of fur can’t even walk right! How is she supposed to uphold our legacy?! Neither of them are fit to be leader and neither of them can carry on Lionblaze’s good name! We need to have another litter.” 

Gasps raced throughout the den and everyone was stunned into stillness. 

“I knew it.” Darkpaw snorted, scuffing a paw against the forest floor. “I knew-.” 

He was cut off by Lakestar’s paw striking Birchclaw across the face and coming away with drops of blood. 

“I despise you.” The lilac tabby leader spat through gritted teeth. “You’re lucky I’m letting you keep your place as a warrior, but you don’t deserve these kits. You don’t deserve the attention you’ve been given. You talk about Lionblaze’s legacy but what have you done to uphold it? These kits are supposed to be your pride and joy, just as his kits were to him. You should think about that since you’ll have so much free time now.” 

“What are you on about?” 

“I’m the leader, remember?” Lakestar sneered. “I could send you on every hunting and border patrol I think of. But no, not yet. I think you should spend some more time in the nursery. See how real mothers care for their kits. After a few moons, I’ll reconsider.”

Birchclaw went to protest, but the gleam of Lakestar’s teeth and the lash of her tail told the grey warrior to remain silent. 

“Report to the nursery and get settled in.” Lakestar ordered. 

Birchclaw slunk out of the leader’s den, several pairs of eyes following her with open animosity. 

“StarClan hates ugly.” Ambersong hissed as the grey she-cat padded off. 

Ask the Original Warriors Squad

Firestar | Graystripe | Sandstorm | Ravenpaw | Dustpelt

can you run to these open arms when no one else understand