Fireheart Seems Like The Type To Get A Motorbike In His Youth And Now He Doesn’t Now What To Do With

Horizonshine lives to run.

Working as a Brookclan courier, Horizonshine finds their purpose in racing across the mountains and joining the distant cats of the bay clans together. In the constantly changing landscape of the Alaskan wilderness, their job represents stability, knowing there will always be another package to carry, another report to send, another task to run to. With every new day, the young cat charges forward, eager to forge connections in her community.

But old connections are racing up to meet her, and when cosmic forces set paw in the mortal realm, the troubled courier suddenly finds herself with a message she can’t seem to deliver, and a past she can no longer run from.

Releasing February 2nd, 2024 on Tumblr and Comicfury

"Touched By StarClan" - a Firestar WIP Ill never finish

The Prophesies Begin

Sketches of TPB cats! I love these little guys

This is the best MAP I’ve ever seen so I have to share it on this blog so I can always find it

so I've been thinking about it

and I think

DotC would've been more interesting if it explored more on the family aspect of things

Clear Sky, Jagged Peak, and Gray Wing are brothers who fall apart

Thunder is rejected by his biological father

it would be so cool to see DotC being about found family and what cats defined as family, for cats to choose who they belonged with and the Clans not forming from petty grudges and teaming up against Clear Sky

but by realizing that these were the cats that made them happy to be around

we get so many little tidbits of this, but that's not the overarching theme of the story and I think it'd be so much more fun if it was

Wind Runner, famously abandoned, learning that she's allowed to trust cats again and make her own family with Gorse Fur by her side. That she's allowed to have a family that won't hurt her.

Tall Shadow losing loved ones - namely her brother Moon Shadow - and making her family something safe that she could protect and that could, in turn, learn to protect each other

River Ripple having once known a proper family, but losing and and turning his group into a loving home, one where cats are welcome no matter how their paws brought them there and turning it into a community like that he grew up with

and then getting to the biggest missed opportunities;

Thunder, being torn so many ways, learning that family isn't always blood. Family is who you want to be around, those you want to protect, but also laugh with, learn from, and teach in turn. That just because Clear Sky sired him doesn't mean that he has to be loyal to his father.

And a Clear Sky redemption arc where Clear Sky learns that family isn't something you control. That family doesn't mean you can hurt those you care about, even if you believe it's for the 'greater good'. That all cats are their own person and trying to strip them of that doesn't make you good family and that you can lose the ones you love.

/

or at least

those are my feelings

Does anyone ever think about how the clans used to actually have differences in culture and lifestyle and how all of that got erased in the newer books?

Imagine how cool it would have been if the Erins had explored these cultural differences between the clans even FURTHER because that would have given the series so much potential.

Here are some examples of just how cool cultural differences can be:

RiverClan

I want to see RiverClan using their skills in swimming way more than they do currently, let them swim to the gathering island every full moon, let them attack other clans from the depths of the lake and drag cats down into the water to drown them. Let them still have their easygoing and relaxed attitude but show how formidable they can be in a fight and make it clear that they are not to be messed with.

Give them their own traditions too, let them celebrate the coming of spring each year because of ice melting and the river thawing so that they can fish again. Let them collect pretty flower petals on this day to decorate their dens and have them celebrate it by all going down to the river to fish.

Show their clan’s love for pretty trinkets and have them gather pretty shells and pebbles from the river. Let the apprentices play games this way by seeing who can find the prettiest shell for their den and boasting about it later. I imagine the other clans would view them as relaxed and easygoing, always having a ready source of food thanks to the river but at the same time they know to fear them for their almost unnatural fighting skills in the water.

WindClan

Imagine WindClan still keeping their old tradition of tunnelling even at the lake territory, imagine WindClan tunnellers accidentally discovering the old forgotten tunnels that run under the forest and finding out pieces of their history this way, possibly even before Jayfeather does. I wish they had kept the tunnelling tradition alive because that was what made WindClan so unique.

Show just how fast WindClan can be, let them use the tunnels to invade other territories and let them be almost impossible for the others to catch up to. They might be considered scrawny but show that they have an advantage in battle because of their uncanny speed.

In general let them have a closed off and cold approach to the other clans. Show that they think they are closer to StarClan than the others because they live and sleep under open skies. They might seem almost mysterious to the other clans and deeply rooted in their traditions. Let them have oral storytelling nights and let them chart constellations in the night sky, keeping alive the tales of their ancestors.

The could even believe that the wind which blows over the moors is holy, the echo of the voices of their ancestors. I picture them as a religious clan, even more than the others. Perhaps they pray by listening to the wind and leaving offerings to be blown away in the breeze (usually the feathers of birds of prey)

ShadowClan

Next up is ShadowClan, the stereotypical bad guys. I would have loved if ShadowClan had been shown to follow a more nocturnal lifestyle, being active mostly at night. They would be masters of stealth, blending into the shadows and coating themselves with mud and leaves for camouflage due to their territories limited undergrowth. This might be what gives them their stereotypical bad smell, that ThunderClan always complains about.

Their territory is very marshy and due to little undergrowth it would be harder for them to stalk prey. This has caused them to be the stealthiest out of all the clans and the best hunters. But they are also able to use this stealth to their advantage in a fight. They attack without warning from the shadows and rely on surprise, always striking at night when it’s hardest to see them.

Their tradition could be the celebration of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.

ThunderClan

And finally we have the main protagonists ThunderClan. This clan has always felt bland to me in terms of tradition because they don’t seem to have anything that really makes them stand out. I imagine they are probably the best trackers due to having to hunt and track prey in thick bushy undergrowth.

But honestly I would have loved if they had been given something to make them special and unique. Any ideas?

ClanGen Moon 0

Welcome to WillowClan!

Quietstar - 114 moons, 9 lives remaining, an insecure dream shaper and a great kit sitter

Pumaback (deputy) - 73 moons, a righteous and unusually strong fighter

Daisybubble (medicine) - 154 moons, a charismatic and naturally intuitive elder

Breezecloud - 29 moons, a phenomenal hunter and great teacher but completely oblivious

Wingkit - 5 moons, an ambitious moss-ball hunter

Riverdusk - 103 moons, a cunning storyteller

Downypad - 151 moons, an adventurous hunter with swimming skills

Sloefall - 141 moons, a strong fighter but childish (perhaps it's just childlike whimsy)

Moon 0:

Moonlight shone on the long moore grass as puffy, bunny-tail-like clouds quickly traced the sky. The breeze was refreshing but fell on numb fur as the cats trudged on the freshly dampened earth. New-leaf had been generous with rain so far. Quietflit looked behind her as she walked. She had known the elders who followed her would need a slower pace after walking for such a long time but seeing them now, tailing even farther behind with every step, she realized how desperate the group was for a camp. Wingkit, who had started the trek outpacing every other cat, now had to be carried by Riverdusk after complaining of sore paws. Were these the cats StarClan had prophesied would found a new great clan? 

It's not that Quietflit didn't trust the group; she didn't trust herself to lead them to that destiny. Clearlilac, the medicine cat of RiverClanClan, had been very clear what must be done before his untimely death but had he been correct to pick Quietflit to fulfill this prophecy? Quietflit wrestled with these thoughts as the group walked on. Desperate to bite the throat of this insecurity and bring it to the ground. The group behind her, who had been willing to follow her for a moon, trusted her. Clearlilac trusted her; in life and in death. The dreams of him had only grown stronger since they said their final goodbyes to RiverClan. The sound of his voice in her ear, giving her comfort and guidance on which paths to take through the many forests, hills and swamp lands they walked through. The only thing she had to worry about was taking each step.

A gasp came from Pumaback who had been walking at her side. Quietflit looked up. Her eyes shone with disbelief. Of course StarClan could be trusted. Of course Clearlilac had been right. Of course leaving RiverClan had been the right path for this group of cats. In front of her, as if placed there by the paw of StarClan, lay a large shallow cliff enclosed clearing. Tunnels framed by smooth stones encircled the camp as soft fresh sprouts of grass, no larger than a mouse tail, grew at the center. The willow tree that marked the end of their journey grew at the far end of the clearing, its long dainty branches hung over the slope. At that moment, Quietflit could feel the dragging weight of her group's StarClan given duties lift. 

She turned to face the brave cats who had followed her. Their many-colored eyes shone brighter in the moonlight. Now full of life as they took in the sight they had longed for. "When we set out a moon ago, I did not know tonight would be the night that our many days of wandering would conclude." She smiled as Wingkit was gently placed on the ground. Sleep weighed down the kit's eyelids. Quietflit knew Wingkit wouldn't remember this in the morning but somehow that added to the cuteness of the scene. "You are brave warriors, braver than me that's for sure. I believe this is the place Clearlilac prophesied that we would settle in. I see questioning in your eyes Downypad." Quietflit chuckled. "No, I also did not anticipate living like a WindClan cat but if you listen closely there seems to be a stream nearby. We have not lost our roots, we have simply outgrown our mother soil. Let's begin the duties of making this place a camp tomorrow but you all have done more than enough to earn a long rest." The wind rustled in the grass and the group took a collective breath. Each cat found the footing they needed to enter the camp. It took less than a minute for each cat to collapse into their hollow and drift to sleep.

That night, Quietflint dreamed once again. This one was not like the others. Her eyes opened and she took in her surroundings, awe filling her from tail tip to nose. The hair on her shoulders raised and her ears twitched. This was no the MoonStone cave. She was standing on a large ledge looking over a valley spit by a river. The rock behind her and under her paws was smooth, black, and reflected each star above her head perfectly as if a mirror. It looked as if she was sitting amongst the stars looking over the land below as StarClan would. 

The stars began to move and twinkle as if many unseen cats walked in front of them. Then two stars lowered closer to her and blinked slowly. Clearlilac manifested from the light, the two stars becoming his eyes. As Clearlilac approached her, she swiveled her ears behind her. Whispers of her ancestors quietly chanted words she could barely make out in unison. "We grant you your remaining 8 lives." Each voice distant, but together they shook Quietflint to the core. "Use them well and with our blessing." 

Their starry eyes stared into the back of her head as Clearlilac touched noses with her. "Welcome to StarCliff, Quietflint. Or-" he looked her up and down with an expression that seemed knowing of her every thought, "should I say Quietstar?" A hearty laugh that reverberated across the land followed. "Well done! The trek was not easy but every cat that came with you I selected myself." He raised his whitened chin in teasing pride.

Quietstar could do nothing but slowly nod. What was there to say that Clearlilac and the cats that watched her didn't already know? "You really do live up to your name." He laughed again. "Anyway, it's about time you returned back to your clan. WillowClan. But I must warn you of something. There is a deeply personal relationship in the clan that will come to an untimely end, however, the young one will recover. She will find comfort in a cat close to you. Go to them now and return to StarCliff in a moon. The path will be clear when you need it." And with a smile, he touched his nose to Quietstar's forehead. A blinding light forced her eyes closed and once she was able to open them again she was in the hollow. Pumaback slept peacefully next to her as the light of a new day shone into Quirtstar's eyes. She sat up and licked her chest to soothe herself. The stretch and yawn that followed cleansed the remaining sleep from her body. 

I had to share this AMAZING MAP so I can always come back to it.

And part 2. AND PART 2. Its so so so good!!!!

made these studying cat genetics over the past 2 weeks!

i felt like there weren't enough visual guides of cat genetics so i went ahead and made some simple ones, my main references were Sparrow's Garden the website, Sparrow's Garden the blog, Messybeast, and The Little Carnivore.

Shaniac or not, I would be pissing my pants at any of those locations not just because of ghosts but the uncanny valley nature of being somewhere once full of people that is now abandoned.