Warrior Cats Rewritten: Riverstar's Home
Version 1.1: Shadowsight and Whistlepaw have been added in! Also replaced Mossy Pelt's placeholder name.
Flutter is being taught Cool Fun Stuff by her uncle Ripple, she is the only family Ripple has left. Her parent, Squirrel, Ripple's sibling, died the day she was born. Squirrel is a tolly (nonbinary) and cause of death is purposely not specified.
Ripple is (lightly) scolded by Arc for wanting to swim and play in the pond at the Park. It gets him all wet, then no humans want to feed him or be around him. He doesn't care! Water is Cool!
Arc is the leader of the Cats Of The Park. He is a bit gruff, but he has a HUGE soft spot for young cats.
But not all is well, readers, for humans are kind of assholes. Their have been many complaints about the feral cat colony, especially after one of the cats broke into a home and stole some food. Twolegs are coming to capture cats!
A few cats are chased onto a roaring-path (thunderpath) and in an effort to save them, Arc jumps cleanly into the car window, making it swerve and miss the cats. He is thrown from the monster, and before Ripple can get get to him, he is killed by another swerving car, by accident.
In the chaos, sweet little Flutter is captured, and brought away from the Park with a bunch of the other cats.
Ripple jumps into the river, and gets away using a large tree branch, his paw occasionally paddling.
Fishing is hit and miss. He can catch minnows with ease, but bigger fish are escaping him for now. He finds Night and Mist, and learns to get better at swimming in moving water, though his looong fur looks hilarious to Night when she puts her head under.
Deciding to search for the missing cats, he heads out with Mist to search for them, but the Park is empty. They're gone. Undeterred but getting tired, they head home.
On the way there, they meet a handsome golden tabby tom with a single eye, and his young daughter, who looks like an eerie, very uncanny version of him. River Ripple can't look at her for long.
One Eye talks about his ex-mate, Sun Spot, and how they fell out of love. Sun Spot took their 2 sons, Blue Eyes and Light. He wasn't bothered, his favorite was always Star Flower.
They bond, heavily. A lot goes unsaid between them that River Ripple will look back on with a mix of longing and horror.
More moons go by, the Sun Trail Followers arrive, Mist and Night are a bit apprehensive... But not aggressive.
They find a little group that was inspired by River Ripple's "heroism" (literally just giving a young cat a fish he caught) and beg to join. ANY side characters from Canon!Riverstar's Home are joining. It establishes that River Ripple is kinda put on a pedestal, but he enjoys being kind.
Any other side characters shown are getting reduxed as well. With lots of changed names. Also, the mythical 'Pumpkinpatch', who apparently doesn't exist, exists now.
Mist finally introduces River Ripple to his kits. He kept the youngsters at the Barn that Barley will one day inhabit. Since there is no obligation to stay in camp yet, he was effectively a proto-Daylight Warrior!
The kits are Smoke, Shadow, and Shine. They are renamed to Dawn Smoke, Deep Shadow, and Dazzling Shine. DS triplets!
River Ripple bonds heavily with them, and cares so much about them, the same way he does for Flutter.
After The First Battle, he promises to the lost cats that he WILL find them. He starts talking with Hawk, who, while he hates them, can't resist the idea of fucking up a twoleg's day. He leads River Ripple to a shelter cageplace, where the Cats of the Park are kept.
Trying to get them out is almost hopeless, until they crash into 4 loners. The first introduces himself as Nightheart, which Night loves the sound of. The second is Shadow Eyes, a very beaten up looking tom. The third is a small, skinny molly who just calls herself Whistle. The final cat is too shy, and her friends introduces her as Frosty Paws. Though Whistle and Frosty Paws are still very young, the group are clever and crafty, knowing stories about how other cats have been freed from cageplaces before!
They get into the mall, River Ripple gets trapped in the elevator of it, but Nightheart accidently pulls on a shiny red branch, and it rains in the building! A loud noise sounds! The twolegs panic and scatter, and the 5 get into the cageplace, freeing the Cats of the Park.
Nightheart, Whistle, Shadow Eyes and Frosty Paws say they have to leave for a while, heading down to Highstones.
Flutter is happy to be in the group, but sickness is spreading. She catches it after hunting a sick mouse [but she was so happy to use the skills her uncle taught her :( ] and it forces him to co-operate with the Clans. In the meantime, Gray Wing has joined and is becoming a problem. He is rude to Flutter about the Park culture, and trying to flirt with Storm Bird. Storm Bird and Night (who seriously thinks the name of that weird black cat was cool) are courts. Not yet mates, but flirting.
Star Flower gets cats killed, Flutter and Dawn Smoke nearly die until Thunder BURSTS in with the cure. He has found the correct Blazing Star.
After bringing Gray Wing with him to fight for their border and keep cats safe, watching Gray Wing defend Clear Sky with one breath and damn One Eye in the other for doing the same thing, River Ripple begins to put his foot, only to get slashed on the ear, ripping it badly. Storm Bird and Night kick him out. The rip in his ear is so bad that it completely changes the way his ear moves, almost like a river changing course...
(Book 5) One Eye is facing down River Ripple during a horrific blizzard. It's about the what if, the what could still be, the what must never be. When One Eye threatens Dazzling Shine, saying she isn't his real daughter, River Ripple lunges. The 2 toms break through the frozen river, and it is only due to his sheer love for the river, having studied its current and knowing every inch of it that River Ripple survives. He brings up One Eye's body, and Star Flower screeches at him, swearing vengeance.
(Book 6) Mist and River Ripple are basking on Sunningrocks when Deep Shadow swims up to them, the poor boy screaming about something horrible.
A cat they let in was working with Star Flower, and has just killed a young cat by poisoning food. River Ripple chases a cat fleeing camp, a Rogue they had let in who seemed to want to get close with Deep Shadow.
River Ripple chases the cat down when he notices they flee camp, calling for Star Flower, but when they get to the stepping stones, the cat slips, breaks their jaw, and drowns.
River Ripple swears this is the last time he is gonna have a meeting with the other cats to Tall Shadow, but he isn't completely sincere. On one hand, he is becoming bonded friends with plenty of others, on the other hand... He is having dreams of being dragged towards Highstones by his tail every night. He knows he isn't getting out of this, no matter how much he wants to stay out of things and remain peaceful.
They talk about the spirit cats message, all waiting for Thunder to arrive. When he does, he and Clear Sky get into a fight, and clouds cover the moon, beginning to pour rain. Flutter tells River Ripple that she is scared of what is coming, she can feel something bad is about to happen. She points out that Thunder is looking at Star Flower with a rage she's never seen from any cat. Star Flower is behind the assassinations, but Clear Sky won't believe it. Sky Petal is more reasonable, but she is taking care of 3 kittens, she is BUSY.
River Ripple is a witness to Thunder killing Star Flower, but he promises he won't say anything. They bury her near Sunningrocks while the river is still near frozen, accidentally digging a little too deep. One of those boulders is kinda loose...
He is given Bubbling Stream, and she teaches him about her Starclan connection. He teaches her about fishing, which she takes well to, but her true passion lies with shaping clay. Together, they create a little bowl and put herbs in it for Dappled Pelt, who is experimenting with everything she heard about from Frosty Paws and Whistle! Science lady meets young heaven-bound girl and who NEEDS to take a vow of no kits when you've got a student like this? Dappled Pelt absolutely loves Bubbling Stream immediately. River Ripple himself swears that he will personally train her the same way Arc trained him. He will raise her like a daughter, alongside his stepkids.
Flutter pulls him aside, telling him that she saw Nightheart and Frosty Paws again, and that she and Pumpkinpatch are going to go with them on their journey. River Ripple is sad, but he loves Flutter enough to let her go. He thinks of how proud he is of her, how much she's grown. She leaves with them, and her new mate, Pumpkinpatch.
He goes to Highstones and... Turns around. He can't do this. The dread is welling up inside him, maybe he should give the Leading Role to Night Hear-
He feels a hard pull on his tail.
Something unseen in the darkness of Mothermouth is dragging him to the Moonstone.
There, he receives his 9 lives, and vows to use them to help Riverclan how HE wants to with his OWN ideals. They may have blessed him but they don't own him.
He gets home to a happy announcement, Dazzling Shine is expecting kits with a lovely tom named Tulip Ear. Dazzling Shine is a pale gray dappled molly with short legs and bright yellow eyes. Tulip Ear is a thick furred gray speckled tom with amber eyes, a white belly, and curled ears.
Riverstar realizes that, though he has lost his home at the Park, he has made a new one, and his new family is flourishing. He might attend a Gathering later, maybe not. But he begins to formally train an Apprentice.
Epilogue: Riverstar is extremely old, on his deathbed. His great grandson, Shining Reed, is telling him all about the fun things he did on his first day out of camp when he suddenly begins to feel weak. He calls the little dark orange tom over to have a nap with him. Shining Reed cuddles up to him, and they fall asleep. At least.... Shining Reed does. Riverstar loses his last life as he drifts off.
He sees Frosty Paws when he opens his eyes, pacing and fretting over what to do. When she leaves the den, Riverstar gets bored, and rips up a dock leaf into the shape of a star, a little gift for the cat who helped him build his home. He puts it into her nest, and watches her shock when she finds it, shouting out to a cat named Mothwing that she found an answer.
