SCRAPCLAN Moons 26-33
Oh wow ok we've had a doozy handful of moons. We're now coming out of leaf-bare and a trying time for Scrapclan; I'm gonna do my best to go in order bc there's a lot to cover! Spoilered for length
Ripple encounters Drizzle, a loner presumably originating from twoleg society, that heard of Scrapclan from far away and wandered towards camp searching for a friendly face. He's been accepted in, but is already an old old man at the time of joining and some cats overhear him saying he wanted to find a nice place to spend his final days. Also while no one holds it against him because he is definitely in no condition to work, Scrapclan doesn't make a habit of its elders officially retiring so he is as of right now the first and only member to have non-working seniority status
SNAKEGRASS DID IT!!!! After many moons of begging and pleading on his kitty knees, Moorstar had a talk with Songbreath and now Moor, Song, and Snake are all mates with one another!! Poly stay winning!!!!! Actually originally it was just that Moorstar had two mates and Songbreath/Snakegrass weren't a thing, and then some moon between then and now they got together without me noticing lol. So they are officially a throuple :) Look at them aren't they awesome
Oh and a couple little things while we're at it: Snowyfalcon is getting along swimmingly, bonding with the cats and being compassionate on patrols, where he eases tired nerves and finds spots to bask. Also as the clan gains new members and continues to age, Moorstar starts trying too hard lol, urging cats to stretch in the morning and trying to understand in-jokes (usually ones that are about her). It's not a huge deal but everyone thinks she should chillax a little
The first hints with a quarrel with another neighbor, Rockclan, which inhabits the more clay-filled and prey-deserted regions of the plains, come out at a Gathering. The Rockclan leader insinuates Scrapclan business encroaching on Rock's borders, but Moorstar brushes it off as nonsense. This little squabble isn't paid the mind it deserves, though, because the very same moon, we lose Bearleap :(
He felt his age catching up to him, and wanted to get out and about for what he knew would be one of the last times. Some other cats help him get to the river so he can watch it drift by, but while unsupervised, he managed to slip and fall in. He was rescued and returned to safely, but passed from what cats can only presume was a heart attack a few days later :((( Rest in peace beautiful man. I miss him so much fr.
Marshstep is also grieving and feels very alone but he saw a vision that his mom and Bearleap are getting flirty in Starclan so now he has to deal with that lmao. Also to fill the need for a new mediator, Marshstep takes on training Antpaw
Then ALL OF A SUDDEN everyone starts getting pregnant and giving birth and someone even brings kits in from a patrol 😭 bruh we don't have the manpower for this crowded of a nursery. 1000 molecules
Anyways tensions with Rockclan's border are rising until Meadow gets pissed by the antagonism and starts shit with a Rockclan patrol. Grave gets caught in it too and there's a cat fight that leaves them both wounded. Really straining the medicine den here guys because we also have 3 pregnant cats and 2 cases of whitecough and 2 running noses oh my goddd
There's insults at the Gathering, shouting and accusations, and Meadow KEEPS GETTING INTO SHIT it's when there's a Rockclan cat it's on sight with him. He spends the majority of these moons healing then getting better then beefing again. There are so many petty fights arising between these clans that half of my damn camp is curled up, even when Honeybee tries to be a good person and help Rockclan with herb stores in leaf-bare he gets JUMPED and comes back with a bigass permanent scar on his face 😭 HELPP Moorstar is like wink wink nudging another ally (Snowyclan, from the highest reaches of the crags where Cliffclan comes from) about how battle-ready they are like please help us
Iggy (another kittypet) is basically begged to join and he finally agrees ans is put to work as a medicine cat because holy shit they are in dire need. He has a big teal bow for a while (forgot to get a pic) then after many moons decides to divorce himself from his former life, shedding his adornments and being renamed to "Iguanatail" by Moorstar. He's happy to help but gd things are rough
Marshstep then defends the nursery of one billion kittens during a Rockclan raid and gets badly injured. Rockclan negotiations aren't going well. Rockclan's leader is making speeches to provoke Scrapclan further. Ripple has been in a recovery nest for days. Mitefoot is down. Meadow is still getting heated. What the fuckk is going on. Then there's a bigass battle and you should have seen my gasp when we lose MARSHSTEP AND SNOWYFALCON. HELPPP :((((( Marshstep is happy to rejoin his mentor and mother in Starclan but Snowyfalcon is pisseddd
People are getting weird. Unresponsive when clan members ask them how they're doing. Antpaw feels totally hopeless, and to help continue her training, Crickethop in all his gentleness and empathy decides to step up into the new main mediator role. He and Antpaw are both learning and grieving together. Fuckkk
In desperation for more warriors and helping hands, Scrapclan also adopts in two new loners, Desertsun and Desertmoon (respectively), named so thanks to their very very close sisterly bond and their duo dynamic in battle.
MITEFOOT is pregnant again and despite that AND her age she is STILL going out and fighting border disputes with Rockclan. Girl. Things are seriously taking a toll and Moorstar spends her next couple Gatherings desperately attempting to appease Rockclan - things are bad dude it's getting harder to grieve these cats and find the strength to battle and care for everyone injured, hunting and herb gathering are impossible in the territory fights, and she is shot down every single time. They literally say that sounds like a you problem more than once. Moorstar is becoming a little hopeless :(
In the fray of battle, Beetleteeth's age is also taking a toll on her and she is badly wounded. Condorwing is caught in the battlefield, Honeybee is hurt, and Iguanatail is still learning, leaving Morning and Mothflutter (Mothpaw in previous posts) to handle everything themselves. Herbs get switched around, and Morning ends up feeding Beetleteeth a poisonous mixture!!!!
The conflict comes to a head when Beetleteeth dies a week or so later. Morale is at an all-time-low. In her guilt, Morning is nowhere to be found, Honeybee is unresponsive knowing that the love of his life and sole source of his happiness is gone, and so many cats looked up to and had close bonds with Beetle that any strength to carry on is completely snuffed out.
Thankfully, EVENTUALLY,
And things come to a truce. Somehow Rockclan was convinced that a Scrapclan victory was assured and that's why they came to the agreement too, no clue why that is lowk but I guess Moorstar and her warriors do a good job of hiding problems back home. Around this time, Morning also returns, revealing to Honeybee that she was going to reveal her unexpected pregnancy to her friends less than a day before Beetle died, but after her passing, was so shaken that she just escaped to be on her own for a while. It was a combination of losing confidence in her abilities as a medicine cat and survivor's guilt that she was having children when Honey had just lost his love.
Honeybee and Morning are working on repairing their relationship as the rest of the clan rests from its injuries and losses, and prepares for what is soon to be a massive wave of new apprentices once these kits get old enough to leave the nursery. Things seem neutral with Rockclan for now. Everyone is hoping that's the end of that (though the medicine cats don't get a break when Meadow gets in a fight with a dog and ends up back in the cat hospital 😭 genuinely he needs to chill the fuck out)
Oh also at some point we gained a new mediator called Elkfur I don't even remember where they came from but here they are. Apparently they used to be a kittypet but for the life of me I can't remember the event. I'm canonizing that and no one else remembers when they joined either, they just showed up one day
