History of the Outcasts - Long Version

[Loki]

Loki's and Author's Notes:

What Was...

"...but you're not coming with us, Speckletail."
"What?" Speckletail looked dismayed at Firestar's news. "But I - oh." She understood what he was asking of her. Firestar looked around then back to her.
"If... if the battle goes ill, you and the others here will be the last of ThunderClan. You'll have to lead them, find a safer home."
The old she-cat nodded. "I see. Alright, Firestar. You can count on me."
"Thank you," Firestar blinked his gratitude to her and glanced over his shoulder at Whitestorm's call. "Keep them safe," he whispered.
Speckletail dipped her head saying, "StarClan be with you, Firestar."
Firestar flashed her an uncertain but grateful glance, then padded off to join the patrol.
This was it. This patrol may not be coming back. They were leaving, nearly all of ThunderClan leaving, to fight the forces of BloodClan - for life or death...
This truly was the Darkest Hour.

One Sun Shift Later...

Speckletail was pacing back and forth in the clearing of the Thunderclan camp. She had been for a while, worrying and fretting about what may or may not be happening to the warriors of Thunderclan.
Suddenly, a shriek of terror echoed through the camp, causing every head to rise and ever tail to bristle:
"ThunderClan, ThunderClan!" Longtail burst out of the gorse tunnel, trailed by the limping and ragged Mousefur, Cinderpelt, Brightheart and Thornpelt. Sandstorm stumbled in, carrying the limp form of Ashpaw by his scruff, and behind came in an unfamiliar young tom with russet fur.
Speckletail ran over to the warriors and mewed, "What happened?"
The warriors stood in the middle of the clearing, trembling, their eyes wild with fear.
"We... There were too many of them," said Brightheart. "...We didn't expect it..." The young she-cat stared off into the distance, horror and deep sorrow evident in her remaining eye.
Speckletail felt her heart crumple at the sight of the she-cat she had bonded with apparently back where she had been when she lost her eye.
"Sandstorm - where's Firestar?" Sandstorm looked at her with a mournful expression and Mousefur spoke for her.
"Firestar led us to the best of his ability. But that wasn't enough... It..." She sucked in air. "Scourge has given us until Moonhigh to leave the forest..." The camp of Thunderclan was silent if not counting the low, sorrowful, moans that the cats of the Clan emitted.
"What about the other Clans?" asked Willowpelt shakily. "What of Tallstar, Leopardstar, Blackfoot? What of the d-deputies?" Whitestorm, deputy of Thunderclan, was Willowpelt's mate.
Thornclaw shook his head and stepped forward past Sandstorm - she had just been standing there with a vacant expression.
"Don't you see? They are all dead! Firestar, Leopardstar...Fernpaw, Graystripe - all of them!" Thornclaw began to tremble. Cinderpelt put her tail on his shoulder as he sat.
"Who will lead us now!?" Frostfur shrieked. The other cats took up the cry. "Has Starclan forsaken us!?" Panic was spreading quickly. Sandstorm tried to get a word in but the cats were too loud, too frantic.
"QUIEEEEET!!!"
Silence.
Mousefur stood on the the ledge where Firestar should have been and was looking down at all of the cats. She spoke quietly, "I don't know if Starclan has forsaken us. I don't. But I do know that Firestar made me deputy after Graystripe, who was made deputy when Whitestorm fell, died." Willowpelt moaned thinnly, and Frostfur leaned against her in comfort.

_________ (to be added to - Rowanpaw of ShadowClan, tales of the Clans fleeing, cats being separated, Four Trees drowned in blood)

"Now," Mousefur continued, "Mistyfoot of Riverclan, Oakfur of Shadowclan, and Tornear of Windclan have returned to their respective clans to tell their clanmates what I am about to tell you: We are leaving the forest." The clan gasped.
Leave their territory?
 "We've been here for seasons upon seasons," called One-eye. "How can we just leave?"
"Better live somewhere than be dead here!" Rowanpaw of ShadowClan looked furious as he spat the sacrilegious words. The Clan broke into argument. They should stay, but no, Scourge will kill them, we can take them, but we can't, who the hell was this ShadowClan apprentice to say what they should do, why was he here...
"HEY! Listen!" Not waiting, Longtail, having joined Mousefur, said, "After I eat something, I'm going to meet the other clans at the Mothermouth. Now, you can all stay here to die or you can come with me. It's your choice." Longtail jumped down off of the ledge with an apologetic look on his face; he didn't want to sound cruel but this is how it was.

The cats of ThunderClan looked at one another for a long time until one of the queens joined Longtail at the well stocked fresh-kill pile. From there, everyone else followed like a stream in the forest, each taking a piece of fresh-kill and eating silently.
When they finished, Mousefur stood, hesitated, then mewed in a soft voice that struck like thunder,
"It's time."

Crossing the stepping stones, ThunderClan joined RiverClan and ShadowClan. Rowanpaw was happy to be reunited with his Clanmates.
They crossed through RiverClan's territory to avoid going through Fourtrees, where Scourge and his cats were. Beyond RiverClan, the three Clans crossed the Thunderpath to join WindClan, and from there they continued to the Mothermouth.

By the time all of the Clans had reached Highstones, the sun had set.
Outside of the Mothermouth stood Mousefur, Tornear, Oakfur, and Mistyfoot, looking into the ominous darkness that was the entrance to the Moonstone chamber.
"Well, one of us has to go first," Mousefur mewed. Oakfur gave her a look.
"Then why don't you go first?" he sneered. Mistyfoot gave the rowan-colored tom a disapproving look which he countered with a superior frown. Oakfur looked at the three warriors and huffed, mewing,
"I'll go first." He marched into the darkness with his tail held high. After vanishing into the dark he mewed,
"Come on already!" The three remaining cats looked at each other and padded in after the ShadowClan tom.
The reason the four had decided to go into here was to see if they were truly the ones to receive nine lives and lead their clans.
The tunnel was pitch black and sloped. One of the cats in the back stumbled forward, shoving the front three forward. The cats fell down the tunnel, finally stopping when they crashed to the floor of the Moonstone Chamber.
Tornear creeped into the Chamber, a sheepish look on his face while the others glared at him.
"Fool of WindClan," Mousefur spat.
"Quiet!" hissed Mistyfoot. The four looked to the great stone in front of them as moonlight began to shine in through the hole in the ceiling.
The cats stood awestruck.
"Let's make this quick," Oakfur murmured, slowly padding up to the Moonstone. The others joined him, stopping when they were almost nose-to-nose with it.

What happened next, I cannot say. All that is known is that the four cats lay down and pressed their noses to the Moonstone and fell asleep. They appeared dead, but trembled many times in their sleep. When they finally awoke, they looked... older, somehow wiser.
The four left the Moonstone behind. Their clans were waiting for them when the came out, and they crowded them and asked,
"Did you see StarClan?" "Did you see our clanmates again?" "Did you receive your nine lives?" The final question caused a hush to fall over the crowd. Everyone held their breath as Mistyfoot answered.
"We did see StarClan. They told us which way we must go, what to avoid... And they gave us all our nine lives." The four clans fell into a chorus of awe and praise;
"Mousestar, Tornstar, Oakstar, Mistystar!"
Mistystar raised her tail and the clans fell silent.
"It is time to appoint new deputies: I speak these words for the spirit of Stonefur, that Starclan may hear and approve of my choice: Shadepelt will be the new deputy of Riverclan."
Riverclan responded by calling, "Shadepelt, Shadepelt!"
Mousefur spoke,
"I speak these words for the spirit of Whitestorm and Graystripe, that Starclan may hear and approve of my choice: Longtail will be the new deputy of Thunderclan."
Again, the call was raised and Longtail was congratulated. Oakstar named Boulder as his deputy and Tornstar named Mudclaw as his deputy, and they were congratulated by all.
The Clans had rested. Highstones was the edge of their territories, and it was moonhigh. It was time to leave... forever.

"Sandstorm! Sandstorm!" Two dark shapes were seen in the shadows, one had called Sandstorm's name. The warriors of the Forest unsheathed their claws and snarled, running to meet these intruders.
"Wait!" called Mousestar. "Ravenpaw? Barley?" Ravenpaw and Barley had been separated from the other clans during the battle, chased towards the two-leg place.
The dark tom and his friend were caked with blood, but they ran without limping.
"Mousefur -  we heard about you all coming here, so we snuck through the forest to join the Clans... May Barley and I join ThunderClan?"
The other Clans still looked on edge from the sudden appearance of two new cats, but Mousestar nodded.
"Of course. And it's Mousestar now." The two new warriors dipped their heads to Mousestar and joined ThunderClan.
"It's time to go," Oakstar yowled to the clans. The four Clans stood as one, lightening flashing in the distance.
All cats of all Clans looked to south, to the homes they had left behind, to the friends and family they had lost and buried, to all of the memories and tales - and turned away.
The four new leaders lead their Clans down the slope and out of what they still thought of as Clan territory.

They would never be seen there again.

Seasons Later...

The four young warriors who had been named leaders of their Clans have passed by this point, their deputies now well into their own leaderships with their own deputies.
Medicine cats had been found in each clan: would you believe that Brightheart of ThunderClan wanted the job? Or Russetfur of ShadowClan? They have long since discovered that StarClan can be found in everything, easy to speak to and receive signs and lives from.
The individualities of each Clan has been fading with each passing season, the kits of most half-Clan, warriors of one Clan mentoring apprentices of another.
The warrior cats do not mind. They have their Clans, they have their Code, they have their ancestors, and they have each other.
But it is not meant to be like this. This is not destined to last...

Countless Seasons Later...

As the seasons passed, the four Clans became one, the Clans of old becoming a legend, and Bloodclan became a bedtime story that kits shivered at. They still searched for their destined home, a prophecy beating in their minds like a heartbeat:

"'And you shall not find your home soon... You will lose your way for a time, but fear not: your home will be marked by the vast shadow of the small...'"

Moonstar, one of the Joint Leaders of The Clan had been thinking about this when he stopped mid-stride. His thick fur gleamed in the sunlight as he surveyed his surroundings.
"Tawnystar," he called to a mottled tawny she-cat. Tawnystar padded back to him and asked,
"What is it, Moonstar?" Before the leader could speak, others cut in.
"Tawnystar, Moonstar, what is it?" Darkstar padded over to her clanmates.
Darkstar was a stocky dark gray she-cat with a limp - she grunted softly every time she took a step.
"Look." Moonstar gestured to the land before them.
"What's going on," called a sharp voice. A she-cat with lovely sleek fur padded up to the cats, looking down (he was short) at Moonstar's unkempt fur.
Moonstar knew she didn't like him. "Dewstar -"
"We're here," gasped Tawnystar suddenly. "We're really here."
The rivaled leaders looked where Darkstar and Tawnystar were looking.
The land was wide and mountainous. The sounds of rushing water could be heard in the distance, the calls of strange birds echoing.
The smallest mountain threw an unusually long shadow for something of it's size.
Darkstar looked at the forest on the mountainsides. "It's like the Forest of Legend," she murmured. The medicine cats joined the leaders, looking at what they were looking at and gasped.
 A black-furred medicine cat sighed. "This is our home. This is where we're destined to be..." She turned to the Leaders.
"This is where we say goodbye."
The Leaders looked at each other, pained expressions of their faces.
"How do we separate The Clan?" whispered Darkstar. The Clan had stopped when they realized their Leaders weren't among them and were turning back, a massive group of cats.
The medicine cats turned to them and the black she-cat mewed,
"You find those like you. They have always known that this day would come."
Moonstar looked around at the seven other cats (two of the medicine cats had an apprentice) forlornly.
"Well... We, we can't use the names of the Legend Clans... If Bloodclan still exists, and if they hear of us..." Darkstar finished, "They'll come after us... So what do we do?" Again, they looked to the black-furred she-cat.
"Perhaps you can name your clans something else? Perhaps... after yourselves, like the First Leaders?"
The four leaders considered this for a while, sitting and thinking while their clan rested, waiting for their leaders.
Dewstar seemed to like the idea - "Works for me."
"If," Tawnystar said, "If only for the safety of The Clan - our Clans." It was hard to say.
Moonstar looked at them and mewed,
"I'm the leader of... Moonclan." A white tom medicine cat and his apprentice stood next to him.
"And I am your medicine cat." The trio looked at the others.
Darkstar mewed hesitantly,
"I am... the leader of... Darkclan?" An orange she-cat medicine cat and her apprentice went over to her and pledged themselves as her medicine cats.
Dewstar was proud to say she was the leader of Dewclan, another sleek-furred cat pledging to be her medicine cat.  
It was Tawnystar's turn. She thought about what she was going to say and said,
"I am Tawnystar: I am the leader of Tawnyclan." The black-furred she-cat padded over to Tawnystar and touched noses with her.
"And I am your medicine cat."

It wasn't easy to separate The Clan. Families needed to stay together, but mentors and apprentices were separated so they could go with their families.
Moonstar gathered cats to him that had thick fur, those who could spring from high places well despite their small size.
Darkstar gathered to her cats that were strong, stocky, known for there close-combat skills.
Dewstar gathered to her cats that enjoyed swimming, hunting in wet places, and laying in the sun.
And lastly, Tawnystar gathered the taller cats, those who could leap long distances and climb trees quickly.
Each new clan said their mournful goodbyes, that they'd see each other on border patrols and at Gatherings, but they all knew that it would never be the same again.

Moonclan went to the deep forest with shadowed lands, and made their camp at the top of a hill within it.

Darkclan went into the mountains, there home shaded by strange, tall trees that grew there.

Dewclan took to the shining forest with a marsh - though in later days they would be rightly accused of sneaking swims in Tawnyclan's river. Their borders touched everyones.

Tawnyclan went to the far side of the range, making their home in a forest filled with sunlight and twisting trees, their border's only touching Darkclan's, and just barely.

The medicine cat's found a place that reminded them of Mothermouth and asked Starclan if this was indeed the right place - it was.
The clans agreed on one place to gather every full moon, a place with red rocks. They called it Blood-Stones after the Forest of Legend and how it fell to Bloodclan.

At their very first Gathering in their new home, the leaders asked one another how they were, how their territories were, and would they be alright?
The answer was:
"We'll manage."

The Outcasts

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