#juniperstorm

 “Whiteflower? Can is it okay if I discuss something with you?” Talldapple turns back toward them and Juniperstorm shoots her an apologetic look. The she-cat scoffs at him before choosing to walk back towards CloudClan land, giving them a few moments to themselves. 

“Thank you!” He calls out but his only response is a tail flick as the black and white spotted cat disappears into the tall grasses. 

“I think that’s the rudest you’ve even been.” Whiteflower remarks, turning his head and giving them a small smile, “Has the sweet and gentle Juniperstorm finally lost his shit? Is he going to start tearing heads off?” Whiteflower chuckles and Juniperstorm forces their face into neutrality. As always, Whiteflower’s laughter was infectious but Juniperstorm actually has something important to tell her. 

“This isn’t a time for jokes, Whiteflower.” Juniperstorm hits him with the tip of their tail, “I have a question for you, and I want you to answer honestly.”

Whiteflower blinks, pale blue eyes widening for a moment before she nods. 

“What would you do if you believed your leader was being unreasonable?” Juniperstorm asks and immediately Whiteflower lets out a mrrow of laughter. 

“What, is Heronstar being odd again? You complained about him the second he became leader too.” Whiteflower laps his chest fur, “And why ask me? You know that Morningstar is never unreasonable. Even Vastspots seems like she doesn’t do anything without thinking about it five times over…and I almost gave Dustcloud parsley instead of borage the other day. Ah.” Whiteflower’s short ears lower, “If you’re looking to gossip about unreasonable people, you should really choose anyone but me.”

“Ignoring your personal errors.” Juniperstorm says, “I’m asking you because you are not only a medicine cat but my good friend. And no, I’m not talking about Heronstar. I’m talking about Fawnthroat…and Heronstar, by extension.” 

Whiteflower flicks her eye, a sign for them to continue, “He’s being. Odd. Keeps on ordering people all over the place and making people do weird things. Dragonpaw has had an infection for nearly a quarter moon now but refused to tell me. And I know my own kin would never stay away from me with such a serious issue.”

“Isn’t this the second time this has happened?”

“The third, actually.” Juniperstorm snaps, “I apologize. You don’t deserve to be spoken to like that I just—I don’t know what’s been happening recently. First Wolfwatcher goes missing and then Shatteredmask becomes deputy. Fawnthroat was already commanding people around then but no one ever stopped him? Shatteredmask let him because they’re mates but Heronstar?” 

Juniperstorm lets out a low, tired laugh, “If there was a single cat I expected to not bow down to Fawnthroat, it would have been him. But even he is just sitting back and letting her do whatever he wants. And now that he’s deputy, he—it’s sad, seeing him like that. He barely hunts anymore and tries to hide it by the fact that he keeps on going on patrols.”

“Does he ever go on those patrols with Fawnthroat or Shatteredmask? And does he only hunt when those two are occupied?”

“Well, uh—” Juniperstorm stumbles over their words, unbalanced for a moment. He hadn’t expected anyone to talk them seriously: the warriors always tell them they worry too much and even apprentices tend to turn their noses up at him, “—yes? But, kinda no?”

Whiteflower comes closer until their pelts are brushing, turning his head upward to look directly into Juniperstorm’s eyes, “What do you mean by ‘kinda no’?” There’s a cold wind that comes down from the mountains and goes right through Juniperstorm’s thin fur, “Do they stop some time after Wolfwatcher disappeared?”

“Soon, I think? Whiteflower, I don’t like the look on your face. What are you thinking?”

“Perhaps what you should have always thought.” Whiteflower says, moving close enough that their noses are touching, “Juniperstorm, when exactly did Wolfwatcher disappear? What was he doing?”

The hair on their back begins to rise as Juniperstorm thinks back to that day. It’s hazy, originally a day like any other but there was one thing in particular. 

“They—” 

“Separate.” A rough voice snaps, “Unless I was sorely mistaken about the honor those in my position held.” The apprentice talks to them roughly, standing above them both. Waspclaw lashes his scarred tail, rustling the branches, making the other medicine cats mew and gather up. 

“Calm down.” Juniperstorm replies, “Whiteflower and I were simply discussing something. There’s no need to get yourself torn up about it, Waspclaw.”

“I am simply protecting the sanctity of this position.” Waspclaw replies. For a moment, Juniperstorm wonders what on earth they’re teaching their cats over there. They know that Waspclaw already has a family of his own, does he think he’ll make anything any better if he tries to be so loud and forward about being perfect?

“Finally.” Talldapple says, “Are you two finished?”

Juniperstorm looks back at Whiteflower, searching for a frantic gaze that will tell them that there’s something he’s missing. 

But in her eyes, he sees only calm water. 

“Yes, we are.”

. 

Juniperstorm watches them carefully, like a warrior hunting a carp under a layer of ice. He watches the way they move around each other, how once a pair of two and sometimes three was so firmly two and one.

.

“What you implied last time must be impossible.” Juniperstorm says as he lowers his ears so they won’t brush against the walls of the tunnels. The cold goes straight to their bones as usual but he brushes it off in favor of whispering directly into Whiteflower’s ear, “They’re acting strange, but I don’t believe they actually had a hand in Wolfwatcher’s disappearance. For StarClan’s sake, Wolfwatcher was Fawnthroat’s father.”

“You would know better than I.” Whiteflower responds, “Did they love each other?”

Juniperstorm stills, “They respected each other. Fawnthroat respected his father as deputy and Wolfwatcher…respected all that his son had accomplished.”

“That doesn’t sound like a yes.” Whiteflower says and they have no rebuttal. 

. 

“If Morningstar or Vastspots was being unreasonable, what would you do?” Whiteflower gives them a blurry-eyed and baffled look. Juniperstorm gives her a moment to compose himself, after all it is the middle of the night. He had left camp the moment after the evening patrol returned, praying to StarClan that no one would do something stupid like sleep in a puddle and half-drown themselves. 

They needed to talk to Whiteflower. Now. 

“Unreasonable?” Whiteflower flicks his ears, “Depends on what they were doing. If they’re following the warrior code, I can’t really do much against it.”

“What.” Juniperstorm lowers his voice to a growl, “You mean that even if it was unfair, you would stop them if they were in line with the warrior code?”

“Well, yes.” Whiteflower replies, rubbing his eyes with white-tipped paw, “Because I know that neither of them would do something without thinking through it five times over. For you though…” Whiteflower yawns and shakes himself, “It depends on what power you think you have over them. If it’s only Fawnthroat saying something, then if you get Shatteredmask and Heronstar on your side, then it’s three against one.”

But it’s never like that! Juniperstorm wants to cry but they know he can’t spill everything that’s on his mind. Even though he and Whiteflower may be close, they’re still from different Clans. Whiteflower was obligated to report everything to his Clan leader if she thought it would give them an edge up during battle. It’s why Juniperstorm was here, under the cover of night, pelt covered in bark flakes to hide their MarshClan scent. 

“And if it was under the warrior code, unfair, and all three of them were against me?” Juniperstorm dares to ask. 

“You hope that StarClan is on your side and willing to intervene.” Whiteflower says, pressing their heads together as Juniperstorm suppresses a wail, “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear. But have faith. You can hear our ancestors, they will guide us. Besides, StarClan would not make either of them leader if they did what we are accusing them of. 

“It’s not as if you could redeem yourself from such a thing.”

.

Are you sure? Juniperstorm stares at Whiteflower as Heronstar makes the announcement to the Clans the very next night. Are you sure they’re listening? They ask with their eyes, watching as Whiteflower’s eyes grow as tiny as beetles as Heronstar renames three cats in front of the entire clan for their disloyalty. 

“It has come to my attention that one of my warriors has not only taken a LaurelClan cat as a mate, she had also decided to not only have kits with that cat, but also pass those kits onto LaurelClan instead of using them to strengthen our own clan.” Heronstar calls out, standing tall as he captivates the entire Gathering. Even as Juniperstorm captures all of Whiteflower’s attention and holds it under their path like he would a mouse. 

“Not only one of my warriors, but the family of my deputies, the direct kin of Fawnthroat.”

He doesn’t even look upset. Just proud. 

“And so, from this day forward, they shall be given new names to reflect their roles in their deception. Whirlcrest,” Heronstar looks down at her. Whirlcrest is rooted to the ground, “You knowingly hid this affair from us and even helped the other offenders hide Clearfrost’s body. For that, you will be renamed Crowfood, for your distasteful actions and mishandling of a body. Clearfrost was a warrior, he should have been returned back to his Clan for a vigil. Not poorly buried.”

No one calls out Crowfood’s name. 

“Sandback,” Heronstar whips around to glare at the tom, who has a defiant expression on his face before Heronstar starts speaking, “You may claim ignorance, but if you do so you are admitting that for whatever reason, you didn’t prevent the main offender from claiming her first litter as your own. Do you do so?”

Sandback, tellingly, remains silent, “So you admit your guilt in this scheme?”

“I…admit my guilt.” Sandback lowers his head. 

“Good. For your crimes of hiding the truth, mishandling a body, and continued prolonged contact and even going so far to actually become mates with the main offender and form a family that will be tainted by your actions, you have been renamed Rotjaw. It would do you good, to just come to the leader in future situations instead of keeping it to yourself.”

“And finally,” Heronstar says, puffing out his chest as he looks down at Thornblaze. Out of the three of them, she is usually the most outspoken. For a moment, Juniperstorm is surprised that she isn’t fighting back before they realize that that was the point of all this: the whole show at a Gathering, all the presentation. It was to bring her down bit by bit until she couldn’t even look her leader in the eyes, “We have the main offender. 

“First, I am stripping you of your name.” The nameless cat gapes at Heronstar, “You do not deserve the name you were both with, nor the name you were given as a warrior. Believe me, count yourself lucky that you weren’t stripped of your name and then exiled, but my deputies talked me out of it. Instead, you get something different.”

Heronstar laughs, long and slow and for a moment this is the Heronstar they have always know. Not the cat who slunk around, unwilling to ever be on his own or be alone with his own deputies for long stretches of time. Not the cat who knew who murdered his former deputy. 

No, this is the cat who laughs in the face of failure, who never stood down from a fight. This is the cat who commands respect and even split his Clanmate’s blood to get it. 

“No, you are special. First of all, you shirked your duties to repeatedly meet a cat from an enemy Clan. You betrayed your Clan by exhausting your energy on a secret mate instead of using it to defend our borders. Of course, you needed someone to cover for you and who else would you choose but your dear twin sister, Crowfood, who helped you every step of the way. Even going so far to help you bury Clearfrost’s body. And thirdly—then you had kits by Clearfrost and pretended that they were Rotjaw’s. And for seasons you made no attempt to live up to your crimes, nor acknowledge them. You tried to go on like StarClan would forgive you for your errors if you tried to be better!”

“Now, Nameless one, is that how things work?”

Now, Heronstar, are you hoping for a negative answer? 

“For all your crimes, you are to be renamed Festerflesh: you are a blight to MarshClan and we must deal with it quickly and cut it off before it has time to spread it’s ideals. May Poppypaw and Waterpaw not follow by your example.”

Juniperstorm’s hair stands on end, turning away from Whiteflower for a moment to look into the crowd and—of course Poppypaw and Waterpaw are there. Of course Heronstar wanted them to be there when their parents were renamed.

He turns back to Whiteflower, meeting his beetle-tiny gaze with exhaustion in his eyes.

Are you sure? They want to ask, Are you sure they’re listening?

-

Starlingblossom gets her medicine cat name partway into Fawnstar’s reign. They didn’t know it yet, but it was when Fawnstar was already four lives down, two of them completely hidden from them. Only Shatteredmask knew him completely, but it was Juniperstorm who got to know just how accurate Fawnstar’s assumptions had been. 

“My son. My dear son, my murderer. I give you your final live for decisiveness. May you always do what must be done for the Clan’s benefit.” Wolfwatcher said, eyes shining with emotion, “My dear son. Go forth and lead MarshClan with a light heart and heavy fist. May not even blood ties stop you from doing what needs to be done.”

Juniperstorm scoffs at the memory, tail lashing with irritation. Just how dare he forgive Fawnstar for killing him? How dare StarClan allow something like this to happen? Not only did Fawnstar get Wolfwatcher killed, he got Shatteredmask to do the dirty work? 

How did I never notice that something like this was happening?

Why hasn’t anything stopped this?

Why haven’t I stopped anything?

Juniperstorm was still deep in thought as Starlingblossom bounded into the den, twisting and twirling around Toadleap. Juniperstorm watches them for a few moments, knowing that they’re both old and careful enough to watch out for the herbs. And they need it, MarshClan has had so much death recently. Part of the training she was—had—passed on to Starlingblossom was accepting that the dead were dead, and sometimes the dead were still alive. Sometimes there was nothing you could do for a cat. 

Though flimsy things couldn’t do much when you’re desperately trying to save a cat who is your best friends littermate, from full-body burns because her parents had told her to jump through a fire to prove her worth.

Swampleaf’s body still haunted her and perhaps always would. They knew that Starlingblossom still wasn’t sleeping well at night, and had started sneaking Toadleap into the den to share a nest. he turned a blind eye to it—he knew well what it was like to have a friendship that looked so much like mates. Even if he and Whiteflower weren’t medicine cats or even weren’t from different clans, they still wouldn’t have been mates. They would love each other no matter where they were. 

“Starlingblossom?” Juniperstorm calls out.

“Fine, fine, we’ll take it outside.” Starlingblossom says with a low groan, but Juniperstorm just shakes his head, “What is it then?”

“Please, whatever happens, never bow your head.” Juniperstorm tells her, staring their apprentice straight in the eyes, “If something happens, stand up against it. Raise your head, Starlingblossom, and never lower it.”

.

Never lower it, Starlingblossom. Juniperstorm thinks to themself as they gasp for air. Fawnstar watches them passively, uncaring for their pain. For a moment, Juniperstorm thinks they deserve it before they remember Fawnstar’s long list of crimes. 

Killing his father. Killing the deputy. Pushing Heronstar to his death. Being cruel. Abusing their power. Not stopping so much even though he has all the power.

Juniperstorm gasps for air, meeting Starlingblossom’s eyes through the thick grasses. If they hadn’t spent over three years together, he wouldn’t have ever recognize their pelt through the thick barrier. Good. MarshClan still needs a medicine cat, it’s better to have one who has a strong will and knows the plantlife better than he does. 

Better Juniperstorm die than Starlingblossom. 

And well, if he’s going to die he might as well get some things off his chest.

“He shouldn’t have forgiven you.” Juniperstorm says as he struggles to his feet. Blood drips down his neck, pooling on the ground, “Wolfwatcher shouldn’t have honored you with a final life.”

Fawnstar’s claws are unsheathed and bloody. Blood covers his paws, even covering the star on his front left leg. The battle is coming to an end but he still seems like he’s a second away from leaping at them. 

“Yet he did.”

“That was a mistake.” Juniperstorm laughs, “You’ve ruined this Clan. If I listed out every day whose life you personally had a hand in ruined, I’d still be talking in StarClan.”

“I would rather you be silent.” Fawnstar says, fur flat but he still has a stark resemblance to his father and the beast he was named after, “After all, you are not going to survive this. It’s a shame you were so close to the battle, were you looking for anyone?”

“Looking to give me a new name?” Juniperstorm laughs, “Wished that you waited until Heronstar was dead to renamed the sisters you always hated?” Fawnstar gives him a thunderous look but Juniperstorm laughs harder, causing more blood to spurt from his chest. 

Cold is spreading through their body, leaving only a rage. 

“I hate you.” Juniperstorm admits, “I’ve hated you for a long time. Did you know how much trust I had in StarClan, how much time and energy I gave into following their every order? Did you know how much of it you shattered by becoming leader. By being welcomed as leader.”

Fawnstar turns away, yellow eyes uninterested. 

Juniperstorm wants to talk more but can’t find the energy. They’re cold. So, so cold. He should have been watching, he knows he shouldn’t have walked into an active battleground as only a medicine cat. Maybe Whiteflower…maybe Whiteflower would have always been okay, maybe Juniperstorm didn’t need to warn her about about the sneak attack. 

But Juniperstorm knew that Fawnstar was allowing his warriors to go after medicine cats and knew that he couldn’t let that happen. 

I’m going to die, but I cannot regret it. Dying in an attempt to save a friend? I should have done that, so long ago. Juniperstorm sinks to the ground, panting heavily, I’ll get to StarClan, and make them all see what they should be doing. I’ll make them strip you of their lives, you’ll be a disgrace larger than—

A screech shatters the air, louder and closer than everything else. 

Fawnstar whirls around just in time to catch a golden cat by their fur and toss them—him away. 

“Whiteflower?” Juniperstorm whispers. Their eyesight has gone blurry but they would recognize the white markings and white-tipped paws anywhere.

The thunderous expression though, that’s new. 

“What have you done?!” Whiteflower yowls, blood dripping down his shoulder, “First your father, then your leader, so do you take out Juniperstorm next?” 

Fawnstar’s impervious expression shifts for a moment, yellow eyes turning to Juniperstorm and sharpening. They know that if they weren’t already dead, then Fawnstar would have actually killed them for giving Whiteflower so much information. 

“I did nothing to her.” Fawnstar argues, “The blood on my paws is not hers.”

Whiteflower growls, “I don’t believe you. Here you are, with a medicine cat you are doing nothing to help and blood on your paws. Why on earth should I ever believe a word from your mouth?”

“Fine.” Fawnstar says, flicking his tail, “Don’t believe me.” 

Shatteredmask leaps out of the undergrowth, claws outstretched. Whiteflower barely manages to dodge his first hit but the second slash catches him in the face, drawing deep marks down his muzzle. 

“I would not harm Juniperstorm without reason.” Fawnstar says, sitting on his paws as the battle begins to die down. Juniperstorm can hear the triumphant screaming of their own Clanmates, “But you, a medicine cat that goes so far to accuse me for the murder of multiple of my own Clanmates? Well, I would hold back my full strength.” Fawnstar looks away from the two toms as they fight. 

Shatteredmask is winning. Juniperstorm thinks as his vision blurs and takes too long to clear again. The pool of blood they’re lying in is beginning to get colder and colder, the wound curving down from their neck proving itself fatal. Whiteflower. Run. Please. 

I don’t want to see you in StarClan for a long while. Didn’t you say that you were worried that Berrypaw would need more guidance?

Juniperstorm shifts, placing their paws under his head to raise it just enough to garner attention, “Whiteflower…” He rasps. Immediately, the BroadleafClan medicine cat falters and Shatteredmask claws him again, “Run. Run…home.” 

Juniperstorm’s head falls but they don’t quite die yet. Not before Whiteflower tries to flee but Shatteredmask leaps on top of him, biting into her spine. Whiteflower yowls and tries to through him off but instead he sinks to the ground. 

No. Whiteflower, get up!

“No…” Juniperstorm tries to get up but the motion kills him. Juniperstorm can feel that with certainty, his soul has snapped away from their body. He sees himself, laying on the ground in a pool of blood so black that it’s stark against their red fur. 

He knows that StarClan is waiting for them, his ancestors are tugging on every hair on his pelt but he plants himself in this moment with all his might, watching. 

Starlingblossom jumps into action with a screech, nearly trampling her mentor’s body as she surges forward. Shatteredmask stops for a moment, releasing Whiteflower’s fur to turn to his medicine cat. He opens his mouth, eyes soft like he’s ready for to warn her for dangers but Starlingblossom lunges for him instead, trapping his neck fur in her jaws like a hunter. 

She knocks the larger deputy to the ground, tearing out all the fur she could get his hands on as Whiteflower drags himself away using his front paws. 

Not yet! Juniperstorm cries out, digging his spiritual claws into the ground to try and anchor himself in this moment. He can’t wait until the next half-room meeting to talk to them again, he has to see it now. They are sick and tired of waiting for things to happen, or always standing back and never acting. 

Fawnstar runs over to his deputy, ignoring Whiteflower completely as he tears the medicine cat away.

Starlingblossom hits the ground hard and is stunned for long enough for Fawnstar to plant his paw on her head, “What was your plan here?” Fawnstar hisses, “Don’t make me punish you for betrayal. Replacing a medicine cat might be difficult but not impossible.”

“Try it.” Starlingblossom spat, “Kill me and you’ve sealed your place in the Place of No Stars.”

“I have been a fair and just leader.” Fawnstar hisses in reply, “Wouldn’t you say so, Toadleap?” Fawnstar turns to his second deputy as they walk up, bloody and triumphant until he stops dead and stares at the scene in front of him: Juniperstorm, dead on the ground, Starlingblossom, bloody and pinned under his header, Whiteflower, desperately trying to drag himself away. Shatteredmask, standing to the side with a soft and blank expression and Fawnstar, staring at him with his wolf-like face. 

“What…what is going on?” Toadleap says. Juniperstorm holds on tighter, pleading to anything that would listen, even the very earth, to allow her to stay just a bit longer, to let her see that everything works out in the end—

it doesn’t work. They unmoor from the ground, floating up to the stars. He can’t hear the rest, but stares down at the patch of ground as all the cats there continue to move.

.

Starlingblossom finds him first, surprising him but jumping out of the river and knocking him to the ground before he can react. 

“Starlingblossom!” Juniperstorm cries out, shaking the water off his fur. He’s not mad, not really. More surprised that Starlingblossom managed to find him first, “Don’t sneak up on your old mentor like that. You might kill be twice.”

“Don’t joke around like that, Juniperstorm.” Starlingblossom says, flicking an ear, “Besides, then you won’t be able to hear that Whiteflower make it back home…paralyzed from the spine down, so he can’t use his back legs any longer but he’s still doing okay. He couldn’t make it to the half-moon meeting but he told me to tell you that, well.” Starlingblossom shuffles her paws, “Well…”

“She told me that she loves me, right?” Juniperstorm finishes for her embarrassed apprentice, “Don’t worry, we love each other the same way that you and Toadleap do—we weren’t mates.” He presses his head against his apprentices, “Tell her that I love her back. And I always will. Oh, and that Fawnstar didn’t actually kill me. I simply got ambushed.”

“You just got ambushed? By who?” Starlingblossom’s expression is so dark that Juniperstorm knows that she can never know who got her mentor killed, “Juniperstorm!”

“It wouldn’t do you any good to know.”

“Like it wouldn’t have done me any good to know that you weren’t a she-cat?” Starlingblossom says petulantly, though it does hide actual pain, “I thought you trusted me.”

“I thought it was always best to stand aside and let things happen.” Juniperstorm says in turn, pressing their muzzle to the top of their apprentice’s head, “It is not your fault I didn’t tell you. Only Whiteflower knew and that’s the way it stayed for years. I love you, Starlingblossom.”

Juniperstorm feels something tugging in their chest, a sign that their short meeting is coming to an end soon. 

He uses his tail to raise Starlingblossom’s head, “Never keep yourself down. Lash out, get mad, make sure that you’re heard. Even if it’s three against one, even if the entire clan is against you. Starlingblossom, you are the smartest cat I’ve ever known. MarshClan is going to need your intelligence and support soon. There will be a rough patch but I know you will be able to help MarshClan surpass itself.”

Starlingblossom’s form wavers, “I miss you.”

“I miss you too.” But Starlingblossom is already gone.