#harepounce

Dapplecloud had wanted kits for a very long time, she was mates with Stormtail for a time when she was a younger warrior but she couldn’t have kits, which was definitely hard on her. At some point she’d broken up with Stormtail realising their relationship was not healthy and tried to focus on spending more time on her family, she absolutely loved her niece and nephew, she and her brother were very close with Mouseburr and Runningbreeze, they were Auntie Dapplecloud and Uncle Thrushpelt and great warriors the two of them looked up to.

So when Runningbreeze came to her asking for her help, Dapplecloud agreed, no warrior would turn down kits in need, especially family. Sometime in the future a part of Dapplecloud would regret this decision.

In the first two months every thing was fine, the kits were little angels, Rodinwing’s litter was taking a liking to the three new little kits and Willowpelt was settling into the nursery. Rosetail, the caretaker of the nursery was going to have her paws full.

But as the months of winter went on, the prey became increasingly more scarce then others, so many cats died that winter. Her brother, Leopardfoot, two of Robinwing’s kits along with her mate and herself… and so many more….

Cricketkit and then Featherkit included… Cricketkit early on and Featherkit so close to being apprenticed, he was born deaf but that never stopped him, he and his family had developed their own language built on clan cats own limited sign language used in patrols and other clan activities. Featherkit was a determined and kind kit. But the harsh winter does not care about the lives of mortals.

The loss affected her deeply… But Sandkit and the rest of the clan continued on.

One of the things that brings Sandstorm and Fireheart together is Cloudkit, in my rewrite Cloudtail and Snowkit are the same character. When Fireheart brings Cloudkit and asks Bluestar to let him stay in the clan, amongst the many voices saying not to let another “weak” kittypet in, Sandstorm surprises Fireheart by advocating for Cloudkit (the little white kit reminds her of her brother) and when Cloudkit is discovered to be hard of hearing Sandstorm and Dapplecloud help Fireheart and Brindleface with different signs and signals.

Cloudtail goes on to help Brightheart when she becomes hard of hearing after the dog attack and their daughter Whitewing, while not hard of hearing is a fantastic sign language teacher and goes on to teach many young cats in Thunderclan and even some cats in other clans the more developed sign language.

Other family tree’s that relate to this one: