Seasons ago, in 1927, within a few generations of the cats forming the current clans and before the birth of the mighty Heronstar, three kits were born in the middle of a raging storm in the comfort of the LichenClan Nursery. While the family no longer remembers their names, Mossysong and her mate Stagpool were both, at the time, extremely popular warriors and for good reason.

Stagpool was an extremely good fighter, one who was well known for being extremely honorable, unwilling to maim or kill, believing wholeheartedly that unwarranted violence was a sin. In fact, he was so honorable that he once helped his opponent to their medicine cat, worried he had hurt them too badly. He rarely held a grudge, often acknowledging that the fighting was often encouraged or even required by the leadership. His calm, amicable nature outside of battle led him to making quite a few friends, both within the clan and outside of it. This led to many rumors of him having a forbidden lover, with some cats even stalking him in an attempt to prove his guilt.

This never led to anything, however, as Stagpool never had eyes for anyone outside of the clan. In fact, he didn’t have eyes for anyone really. Aromantic and asexual, he was more than content living his life with close friends. However, despite never falling in love, nor wanting to, he always felt a pull towards the Nursery.

His best friend, Mossysong, felt the same.

While not the fighter Stagpool was, Mossysong was quite the storyteller. The great-great granddaughter of a pair of kittypets brought from the mainland, the stories of the lands outside of the island were passed through the family, twisted into fantastical stories. Often times, she would find herself heading into the Nursery in order to tell kits fantastical stories of the great clans that roamed the island before them. About the lands her great-great grandparents came from, full of predators and prey unlike any seen on the island.

While not nearly as popular as her friend, Mossysong did have quite a few cats she would consider to be her friends outside of Stagpool. However, like Stagpool, she never felt… anything towards anyone. Aromantic, she desperately wanted kits of her own, but never knew who to talk to about it.

Then, one day while they were out hunting, Stagpool mentioned his desire to have kits, lamenting the fact that he never liked anyone like that, and therefore probably would never have kits. Mossysong shared that she felt the exact same way, and it wasn’t long before the two decided that they’d have a litter together, as friends.

The litter of three they bore included Nightkit, his sister Creamkit, both of whom have had their names lost to history, and their youngest sister… Skykit.

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Despite inheriting both her father’s strength and her mother’s storytelling abilities, Skykit never inherited their humble natures. At a young age, Skykit noticed how liked her parents were, and quickly began to exploit that. Using their opinions of how nice her parents were, Skykit began to manipulate people to like her better, often telling false, yet mostly believable stories in order to get attention and praise.

Her mentor, Blizzardfrost only encouraged this behavior when he found out, as he never really liked Stagpool’s goody-two paws act. When Skypaw became Skyblossom, her arrogance grew tremendously.

Soon after the litter gained their warrior name, Nightkit, who had earned the name Nightfeather fell sick. It happened quickly, with him collapsing on patrol one day, and him passing within the moon. Nothing the medicine cats did worked, and he faded quickly, often complaining about pain in his chest before he passed. When he passed, Stagpool, Mossysong, and Creamkit, who had earned the name Creamcloud, began to grieve. Skyblossom, however, hung back.

She didn’t understand the grieving. She never really cared about Nightfeather after all- why grieve? At least, that was what she thought until cats came to her, offering their sympathies. The moment she realized that she was getting attention for his death, she changed her tune, leaning into the grieving until the sympathy stopped. Then, she went straight back to her normal routine of using false stories to gain attention.

Around this time her parents seemed to notice her arrogance and obsession with attention. They tried talking to her about this, cautioning her that she was committing a grave sin an could lose everyone she cared about if she continued like this, but Skyblossom blew them off. After all, why should she care? She wasn’t going to lose everyone for caring about attention. Especially since she had the skills to back her words up.

And back it up she did. For a season later, during the end of a long, harsh, leaf-bare… a bear found its way to camp. Awoken from hibernation early for some reason, and starving for food, it had followed the scent trail of a patrol back to camp.

Stagpool had been the one to raise the alarm as the bear had shoved its way into camp, being on guard duty for the night. The rest of camp quickly sprung into action. Of Skyblossom’s family, Mossysong took to the Nursery entrance, protecting the queens inside. Creamcloud, who had just given birth to two daughters, huddled with the queens, ready to defend Frostkit and Stormkit with her life.

Seeing the opportunity to become a legend, Skyblossom quickly leapt into action, battling side by side with Stagpool to drive the bear back. The pair succeeded, but neither were content with just letting it retreat.

Stagpool raced after the bear, with Skyblossom following close behind. She kept behind him on purpose, cautious to make sure she’d be able to avoid any form of truly dangerous confrontation.

The pair had just reached the border when the bear turned. It happened so fast that Stagpool didn’t even have the time to skid to a halt before the bear slapped him with a paw, slicing him open and tossing him into a boulder.

Skyblossom, focused on the desire for fame, ignored how her father had been flung away. She didn’t bother checking on him as the bear went to retreat. Instead, she flung herself at the bear, attaching herself to its face. She ended up ripping its eye out with her claws and tearing most of its ear off before leaping off and letting it run.

With the bear gone, and her trophy clutched firmly in her jaws, she turned to pad back to camp, only to notice Stagpool hadn’t moved.

Walking over to him, it became incredibly clear quite quickly that he was dead. The blow from the bear’s deadly claws had practically disemboweled him. His death had clearly been excruciatingly painful.

Seeing her father dead, Skyblossom just groaned. Of course he had to die a hero She ended up picking his body up and onto her back before making her way towards camp.

As she walked, she came up with a story in her head. She couldn’t claim he did something like try to kill her- cats would never believe her. So, she decided to go with a sympathy angle.

Walking into camp, Skyblossom hung her head and sniffed, mustering up tears. Putting the body and the ear down, she began to explain what “happened”.

She explained that they had chased the bear to the border, but that’s when the truth began to be stretched. Playing into how much of a hero her dad (unfortunately in her mind) was, she claimed the beat had turned and tried to go after her. She claimed Stagpool had shoved her out of the way of the blow, collapsing after the strike. She told how she had fought the bear off in order to keep Stagpool safe, making sure to mention that she had taken its eye and ear, making sure to gesture to said ear when she said it.

She lied and said that, when she finally drove the bear off, she went to check on her father, saying he was barely alive but told her he loved her before passing.

She broke down sobbing after this, and the entire clan came to comfort her and her family, in particular a tom named Mistysnow.

Like Skyblossom, Mistysnow was an excellent fighter, though he heavily believed that violence was sinful. Still, he was good enough that Skyblossom couldn’t help but notice. He was fairly well liked in the clan. Skyblossom especially was one of the ones who liked him. She saw him as the only cat good enough for her, so when she realized he was offering his paw of sympathy, she pounced.

Their romance was a quick whirlwind. Skyblossom never truly fell for him, but she did love the status he had, and was more than willing to pretend that she loved him. Mistysnow truly loved her, however.

With her mateship came an idea. She already loved attention, but what if she became… immortal? If she insisted her descendants remember her… then would she ever truly die? It was an almost intoxicating thought to her. However, it was a radical thought. No one ever really cared about blood beyond “who are your parents” and even then, it was rarely important. But, the idea of having her descendants talk about her… it was too intoxicating to give up. So, she began to try to get pregnant. And, eventually, she did.

The family was ecstatic, especially Mossysong, who had been extremely depressed since the death of Stagpool. Creamcloud, who had lost her mate Flurryclaw to the bear attack, was eager to help Skyblossom.

Skyblossom, despite the lack of a true bond with her sister, accepted the offer. Thus, in 1930… she gave birth to two kits. A son and a daughter. She named her second born, her son, Bearkit. And her first born?

She named her Tigerkit.

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Unlike her mother, Tigerkit wasn’t arrogant, However, Tigerkit was proud. Proud of her hunting skills, proud of her coat, proud of her family… she was proud of a lot of things. Though she was never boastful.

Skyblossom grew restless almost immediately, and began occasionally going out to hunt and patrol when Tigerkit and Bearkit were only three moons old. Because of this, Tigerkit and her brother often hung out with their Grandma Mossysong, Auntie Creamcloud, and their cousins, the recently named Stormflurry and Frostclaw during the day. Of course, Skyblossom wasn’t neglectful. In fact, she was an oddly good mother.

Tigerkit and Bearkit both loved their mother, with Tigerkit being very close to her. Skyblossom would often regale the pair with stories of her fights, along with stories of how great the two would be, and how they’d create a legacy for Skyblossom. The pair were also close to Mistysnow, but not as close as they were to their cousins.

Tigerkit loved her cousins. She bonded to Stormflurry quickly, seeing her older cousin as a role model. Because of this, when she reached six moons, she was apprenticed to Stormflurry.

Tigerpaw’s apprenticeship was honestly unremarkable. She trained hard, growing even closer to Stormflurry as she did. Not only did she grow closer to her mentor, she also grew closer to other apprentices. In particularly, a tom named Featherpaw

Despite being born at the same time, Tigerpaw and Featherpaw had never really interacted. Skyblossom had kept Tigerpaw and Bearpaw from the rest of the Nursery, making up excuses of nap time and story time every time the pair tried to get close to their fellow kits. As an apprentice, however, Tigerpaw and Featherpaw were allowed to grow close. And grow close they did.

By the time the pair were ten moons old, it was clear to everyone that they were dancing around each other. They both clearly had crushes on each other, but neither made a move. At least, not until tragedy struck.

Skyblossom had taken Tigerpaw and Bearpaw out on a walk, citing that she wanted to speak to them. When they left camp, Skyblossom began to speak of her dreams for the future of her kits. Or, more specifically, her dream of living on in Tigerpaw and Bearpaw’s kits.

She spoke to them about how they were to have kits, to continue on the legacy she started. Tigerpaw was confused by this, but Bearpaw outright refused, calling Skyblossom crazy. Skyblossom, angry at being called crazy, snapped back at Bearpaw that he didn’t understand. Tigerpaw, desperate to break up the fight as she hated seeing her family fight, tried stepping between them multiple times to no avail.

The three became so enraptured by the argument, that none of them noticed the coyote until it was far, far too late.

The coyote got to Tigerpaw first. Tigerpaw had barely managed to turn around by the time the coyote grabbed her in its jaws and began shaking her. Skyblossom, who for the first time in her life understood why Stagpool had fought against the bear as hard as he did, was on the coyote immediately. Bearpaw right next to her, argument forgotten.

Skyblossom went for the eyes as Bearpaw went for the belly, attempting to get it to drop Tigerpaw. The pair succeeded, with the coyote yipping. Tigerpaw, woozy from blood loss, could only watch as they drove it back.

Had it just been one, they might have beaten it. Unfortunately, there were three.

Hearing their packmate’s cries, two more coyotes burst into the area. One grabbed Bearpaw by the neck, shaking him violently. Another grabbed her again, this time by the head, and began tearing into her. With no one to save her, Tigerpaw fought back best she could, eventually getting the coyote to drop her with a well aimed blow to the neck.

Dropping at an awkward angle, Tigerpaw let out a scream as her leg snapped.

Skyblossom, realizing both of her kits were now completely helpless, fought like LionClan, eventually managing to take down one of the pack before the injuries became too great.

She collapsed just as a patrol came racing over to help. Then, the blood loss became too much and Tigerpaw blacked out.

When she awoke, Bearpaw and Skyblossom were dead, and the surviving members of the family, alongside the newly named Feathertalon, were watching over her with baited breath.

Tigerpaw was confused at first, not sure how she got there or how her mother and brother died, but Mistysnow explained. Bearpaw had died immediately, neck snapped when he hit the ground. Skyblossom had lived longer, lasting a day before succumbing to her injuries.

They had expected Tigerpaw to do the same, but somehow, she had pulled through. Against all odds, she had managed to wake up.

Her injuries were extensive, with a broken rib, a broken leg, a chunk of the left side of her face torn up, and most of her sides missing fur. By some miracle, she managed to get out of the encounter with her left eye mostly intact, but the wounds on her face resulted in her needing cobwebs to be placed over her eye.

Her recovery was slow, taking a full six moons before she was able to do her assessment. Which she passed with flying colors. When Stormflurry and Feathertalon, who rarely left her side now, told her she passed, she was ecstatic. However, she had one request. She wanted her name to be Tigersky, to honor her mother.

Stormflurry agreed to bring it up to the leader, and that night, she was named Tigersky.

Two moons later, Feathertalon began to officially court her.

From the get go, the decision was to take the relationship slow, something Mistysnow had advised the pair do after he admitted he had wished he and Skyblossom had waited.

The first scare in their relationship came later that leaf-bare. A plague of greencough swept through the camp, infecting multiple cats. Mossysong, Flurryclaw, Flurryclaw’s mate Pebblejaw, and many others lost their lives to the disease. Feathertalon caught it as well, barely managing to pull through, as did Stormflurry, though the later was left with breathing complications.

The recovery process was long, but after three moons of quarantine, Feathertalon was released. The pair, fearful of losing each other, began trying for kits.

After learning of her mother’s death, Tigersky had vowed to continue the family name, respecting her mother’s last wishes. It took over a season of trying, but eventually, Tigersky fell pregnant, and in 1934, she gave birth to two kits. Rabbitkit, was the eldest, and, due to the fact that she knew this newly born family would need a head, he was named head of the family.

The second born, Mudkit was allowed to live her own life.

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From the get-go, Mudkit was a jealous kit. While Tigersky and Feathertalon did their best to be loving and supportive of both kits, the fact that Rabbitkit would get told he would continue the family name was something that made Mudkit incredibly jealous. It didn’t matter that she was loved just as much as Rabbitkit. To her, it wasn’t enough. She wanted the title.

This drove a wedge between her and her brother, who didn’t help things with his boastful nature, and the two often had to be separated by Tigersky and Creamcloud, the latter of whom had opted to become a Nursery warrior at this point.

Tigersky and Feathertalon both tried speaking to the pair, trying to get at why they were fighting all the time, and explaining how it was sinful, but this only resulted in Rabbitkit teasing Mudkit about how he got to be the heir of the family and she didn’t. Of course, with both of them being hot-headed, this often meant that the fight would start up again.

It got so bad that they ended up having to sleep in different nests on occasion, with Feathertalon sleeping with one, and Tigersky with the other. By the time the pair became apprentices, there was little love between them.

Tigersky and Feathertalon were devastated by the fact that their kits refused to get along, with Tigersky often asking what went wrong. Fortunately for them, both Mudkit and Rabbitkit loved their parents.

At six moons, Mudpaw was apprenticed to a prickly tom named Mooserock.

Mooserock was a senior warrior, one who was still bitter about not getting the deputy role. He was a harsh teacher, and one who was of the opinion that mollies should be in the Nursery instead of out on the battlefield.

Of course, this infuriated Mudpaw, and their early training sessions often ended with Mudpaw on the ground, completely humiliated by the much larger senior warrior. Eventually, however, she grew more and more adept at fighting.

Rabbitpaw and Mudpaw’s fights became more violent during this time, with the two of them often having to be pulled apart during sparring. The fights had turned from who got to carry the family name into full on hatred for each other. Tigersky and Feathertalon gave up around this time, doing their best to love both of them as much as they could.

Eventually, however, something had to give. And this something came in the form of claws unsheathing during a practice spar between Mudpaw and Rabbitpaw. They were fighting over something stupid that day- who was the better fisher amongst the two.

This became heated quickly, with the pair hurling insults about looks, behaviors, skills… anything they could. That’s when Rabbitpaw screamed that their parents never actually loved Mudpaw, and that they were just pretending.

Mudpaw froze.

The mentors, realizing that this was about to be a very, very bad situation, tried to break the fight up, but Mudpaw was faster. With a fury often reserved for an enemy clan, she yowled and raked her hind claws down his belly as she got out from under him.

Rabbitpaw, infuriated and in pain, responded by raking his claws against her side. The mentors tried to intervene, but the pair was too entangled. They were locked together, clumps of fur flying everywhere as they rolled around, staining the ground red with their blood.

Then, Rabbitpaw’s aim failed him.

He later claimed he had been aiming for Mudpaw’s chest when she jerked down, positioning her face in just the wrong way that his claws ripped though her left eye, gouging it out and causing her to scream in pain.

Half blinded and in panic, Mudpaw lashed out, hitting him in the throat before slipping out from his grasp. The mentors stepped between them immediately, but not before they both could see the damage they had done to each other.

The rest of the cats crowded around Rabbitpaw, and called for cobwebs. That’s when Mudpaw passed out from pain.

When she came to, she, and Rabbitpaw, were in the Medicine Den. The pair were on opposite sides of the den, with Mistysnow, who was sporting claws marks on his cheek and pelt, watching them closely. Confused as to what was going on, Mudpaw asked him why she was in the Medicine Den.

Mistysnow, who had been watching the fight from the sidelines and had tired to separate the pair, sat between the two and explained everything, finishing with how, had she aimed a claw length higher, she would have killed Rabbitpaw.

The image of her brother staring at her in horror, blood spilling from his neck surfaced in her mind, and for the first time since they were little kits, Mudpaw felt horror for what she had done.

And when Rabbitpaw came to, it was clear he felt the same.

Neither spoke a word to each other while they were in the den. In fact, neither of them looked at each other.

It wasn’t until they were discharged, that Rabbitpaw woke Mudpaw up in the middle of the night to talk. Alone. For the first time even, he genuinely apologized, and Mudpaw did the same. She admitted that, despite all their fights, she still held some form of love towards her brother, and he for her. Seeing how she almost killed him… it was enough to make Mudpaw realize that she did actually love him deep down. He admitted feeling the same way about her eye.

Tears started, and, under the light of the moon, the siblings embraced for the very first time.

The next morning, their parents came to the Apprentice’s Den to find them sharing a nest.

The rest of the apprenticeship was uneventful. Due to the fight, the pair were held back several moons as a punishment, and both were forced to go to the MoonCave to ask for forgiveness for their sins, but eventually, they got their names.

Mudrain, and Rabbitstorm.

While the pair still had the occasional fight, they grew closer by the day. Tigersky and Feathertalon were ecstatic.

In fact, they were so pleased that, soon after the siblings got their names, the whole family went on patrol together for the very first time.

And, as it would turn out, the last time.

Mistysnow, Stormflurry, Tigersky, Feathertalon, Mudrain, and Rabbitstorm set out in the morning, with Creamcloud staying behind in order to help a queen out with her kits.

It was a simple border patrol, with the group idly chatting as they walked. Rabbitstorm and Mudrain playfully teased each other, laughing as they did so.

Unfortunately, in this teasing, the pair ended up accidentally crossing the ThistleClan border, with Mudrain literally bumping into a patrol.

Angry at both the intrusion and the bump, the ThistleClan patrol attacked immediately.

The battle was quick and dirty, with the family managing to successfully defend themselves. The ThistleClanners began to retreat but… Rabbitstorm was still hot-headed. Against everyone’s wishes, and ignoring the calls of “StarClan chooses peace”, he chased after them, furious about how they attacked his little sister.

He didn’t get very far before one of the ThistleClanners spun around and slashed his throat. This time, he didn’t get very lucky.

The family was horrified, Mudrain especially, and she did everything she could to try to save him. But the wound was too deep. They were forced to watch as Rabbitstorm bled out, his last words being one final apology to Mudrain and a joke about how she finally got to be the family head.

To say she was devastated would be an understatement. After an entire season of fighting, the pair had just started to get along when Rabbitstorm was taken. Leaving her as the family head.

She had finally gotten what she wanted, but at what cost?

The following season was hard for Mudrain. She refused to talk to anyone but her parents for moons, and she fought fang and claw to keep moss from his nest in hers. Had it not been for Lizardclaw, she probably wouldn’t have gotten better as fast as she did.

Lizardclaw was younger than Mudrain by a half-season, so they never really interacted. However, he was so infuriated with her moping, that he literally grabbed her by the scruff one day and dragged her from the den, forcing her to leave the warrior’s den. The moment he let her go, he began ripping into her verbally, berating her for moping like she was.

Infuriated by this, Mudrain snapped back. That’s when Lizardclaw smirked, saying that it was good to see she still had some spirit in her.

The pair’s relationship was hot and fiery, with them butting heads often. However, over a few seasons, this heat simmered slowly, reducing to a sort of rivalry. Sure, they claimed to hate each other still, but that didn’t stop them from having wild nights of passion in between their bursts of fighting.

It was one of those nights of passion that resulted in Mudrain falling pregnant in 1938.

She knew who the father was, and when she told Lizardclaw she was expecting, she was genuinely shocked to find that he wasn’t against the idea. In fact, he was somewhat excited. They officially became mates that night.

The next day, Mudrain nervously approached Tigersky and Feathertalon. She decided to tell them alone, as she wasn’t entirely sure what they thought of Lizardclaw and the fights the two had. However, to her surprise, Tigersky preempted her, explaining that, after trying for seasons, Tigersky had fallen pregnant once again.

Shocked, Mudrain blurted out “we’re going to be in the Nursery together?!” Tigersky and Feathertalon became even more ecstatic at this. While they weren’t the biggest fans of Lizardclaw, they were incredibly supportive.

The pair went to the rest of the family to tell the news. Creamcloud, who had retired at this point, was incredibly pleased to see her father’s legacy continuing, and Mistysnow, who was also retired, broke down crying. Stormflurry, who had been finding it harder and harder to breathe lately, was excited as well.

Unfortunately, the excitement wouldn’t last long.

Mudrain and Tigersky had just moved into the Nursery when Stormflurry passed in the middle of the night, the complications from her greencough finally catching up to her. Then, Tigersky began kitting early.

Mudrain had been woken up by Tigersky’s low wail of pain and had rushed to get Coyotecall, knowing her kits were early, but the tom couldn’t do anything.

Tigersky barely got to see her two new daughters, whom she and Feathertalon named Swankit and Riverkit before succumbing to blood loss.

As the only queen producing milk, Mudrain quickly began to suckle her siblings, but Swankit passed in the night, with Riverkit following the next morning.

Horrified by the turn of events and now terrified of her own impending labor, Mudrain asked the devastated Feathertalon if he’d be willing to spend nights with her. He rejected her, too traumatized, but Mistysnow agreed.

Half a moon later, Mudrain entered labor.

It didn’t last long, and it went smoothly. She only had one kit, a small molly. She had picked out a name a while ago, something that Lizardclaw agreed to.

Thus, in 1938, a new heir was born. Rabbitkit.

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Despite being named after him, Rabbitkit didn’t take after him at all. Not only did she look different from him, she acted differently as well. In fact, she acted differently than most of her family did. Unlike the boastful, narcissistic Skyblossom, the proud, level headed Tigersky, or the hot headed, rough and tumble Mudrain, Rabbitkit was a calm, collected molly who hated getting dirty.

Very prim and proper, she never understood why some kits would want to get dirty playing, and always wanted to play Nursery. Because of this, she wasn’t the most popular kit, but she didn’t mind. She was just as content playing by herself.

A chunk of her time in the Nursery was dedicated to being told stories of her family. Her great-great aunt Creamcloud would tell her all about Mossysong and Stagpool, and great grandfather Mistysnow would talk about Skyblossom. Out of all of them, however, Rabbitkit found herself the most enraptured by Feathertalon’s tales of Tigersky and Mudrain’s tales of Rabbitstorm.

From a young age, she became fascinated with how many stories there were. In fact, part of why the family history is documented so well is due to her starting the tradition of the family being taught the stories of the past heirs, along with being so long lived. She soaked the stories of the family up like a sponge. While as a whole she mostly enjoyed the stories of Tigersky and Rabbitstorm, the one she enjoyed the most was of Skyblossom and the bear.

It was a story she’d tell to everyone she could. From other kits to warriors to apprentices, she’d tell it to everyone. And, like her great-great grandmother Mossysong and her great-grandmother Skyblossom, she was an excellent storyteller… if not one who would fudge the details.

In fact, by the time she was an apprentice, Rabbitpaw often told the story of Skyblossom defeating the bear, completely omitting Stagpool’s involvement, much to Creamcloud’s dismay. Around this time, she also began to realize just how much she hated fighting and hunting.

This was something her mentor, a molly named Gingerroot, noticed quickly. Gingerroot was a very quiet molly, one who didn’t care for confrontation and preferred to be in the Nursery.

Gingerroot’s mate, Sandystrike was a firm believer that tom’s should be the protectors. That, since mollies could have kits, that meant that the toms had to step up. Gingerroot, to Rabbitpaw’s surprise, completely agreed with him. It was a radical idea at the time, one that wasn’t really believed by anyone but Gingerroot and Sandystrike.

Because of this, and Rabbitpaw’s hesitancy to fight and hunt, Gingerroot spent far more time on the den keeping side of things. It was a dream come true for Rabbitpaw. After watching Mudrain and Lizardclaw’s mock spars her entire kithood, having someone teach her how to be a den keeper was amazing.

When she was eleven moons old, however, Gingerroot pulled her aside. She explained that she had become pregnant and that she would get her name in the next moon. A little on the early side, yes, but she didn’t mind.

That same moon, Mudrain and Lizardclaw approached her. Mudrain was pregnant again, a fact that genuinely surprised Rabbitpaw, as she knew that Mudrain hated being cooped up in the Nursery. Still, she was incredibly supportive of her mother.

The next moon, she gained her warrior name. Rabbitmist.

A few days later, unfortunately, Mistysnow passed away, succumbing to his age. The family, and the clan, mourned his loss. Creamcloud especially was hurt by the loss, having grown close to him in the recent seasons.

Sadly, the tragedy didn’t end there. Less than a day later, Mudrain went into labor. She gave birth to four mollies, Ferretkit, Cloverkit, Snakekit, and Alderkit.

Alderkit was a stillborn, her small, weak body not nearly strong enough to survive labor. Snakekit as well was born weak, though she managed to hang on for a moon before eventually fading away. Fortunately, however, Cloverkit and Ferretkit both survived.

A moon after the birth of Rabbitmist’s little sisters, Gingerroot gave birth to two toms. The eldest was named Deerkit, while the youngest was named Antlerkit.

Rabbitmist didn’t really spend any time with her former mentor’s kits, far too busy with her little sisters, as Mudrain still hated being cooped up in the Nursery and would take up Rabbitmist’s offer to watch the kits every time.

She always enjoyed looking after her siblings, specifically, she enjoyed telling them stories. With Creamcloud in the Elder’s Den most of the time, Rabbitmist’s stories about Skyblossom went mostly unchecked, allowing her to completely remove Stagpool from the story.

This was when the story really changed into what is known now. Skyblossom was also spoken about differently. Unsatisfied with the idea she was selfish, especially considering that she fought a bear, Rabbitmist called Skyblossom a kind molly.

Eventually, Ferretkit and Cloverkit became Ferretpaw and Cloverpaw, and Rabbitmist went back to, unfortunately spending time as a warrior, hunting and training to fight.

Training to fight became a massive part of everyday life, with tensions between LichenClan and the other clans rising as Heronstar and Coyotecall continued to preach that the other clans were heretics.

During this time, Feathertalon was found crushed by a branch on the edge of the territory.

This preaching caused a split in the Sky family. Creamcloud, now twelve seasons old, was against it, citing that there were still cats alive who were the grandkits of those who lived before the clans appeared. She claimed that, as Stagpool had taught her, the clans were all equally honorable, and that violence was sinful. Cloverpaw wholeheartedly agreed with her.

Mudrain, on the other paw, agreed that the other clans were unjust, still holding resentment for Rabbitstorm’s death. She never really believed in StarClan, so she never cared about them being heretics, though she was quite eager to be able to use her claws more and more. Lizardclaw felt mostly the same. Ferretpaw, having grown up with the fantastical stories of her ancestors that Rabbitmist told, agreed with her parents.

Rabbitmist however… she was utterly captivated by the idea of LichenClan being the one sole bastion of faith. Of how they were the warriors who would fight against the encroaching forces of the other clans’ heretical ways. She hung onto every word Coyotecall and Heronstar preached, and was vocal in her support.

When mollies were told they could no longer train as warriors, she was one of the few who didn’t mind, instead being genuinely relieved. Mudrain, of course, had raised the Dark Forest over it, as had Ferretpaw, Cloverpaw, and Creamcloud, but Rabbitmist… she did everything to calm them, doing her best to convince them this was StarClan’s will.

That caught the attention of Gingerroot and Sandystrike.

It was the day after Ferretpaw and Cloverpaw earned their names Ferretfog and Clovermist that the pair approached Rabbitmist. They asked if she had any romantic feelings for any cat yet. Confused, she told them the truth, she hadn’t.

That’s when Sandystrike beckoned the eleven moon old Antlerpaw towards them. Gingerroot explained to Rabbitmist that they were worried about the other mollies in the clan, concerned that they weren’t loyal enough to StarClan, or that they were too harsh. They expressed fear over their son’s future mate, explaining how they wanted their bloodline to be strong and blessed by StarClan, just like Heronstar’s line.

Baffled, Rabbitmist asked what was going on. Antlerpaw spoke up this time, clearly nervous. He said he used to listen to her tell stories of Skyblossom and admitted he believed that she had to have been blessed by StarClan if she could fight off a bear single pawed.

That’s when the scent lines started to become trackable. Rabbitmist asked if they were asking her to be Antlerpaw’s mate. Sandystrike confirmed her suspicions, though adding on that it wouldn’t be right now.

Intrigued, the idea of her kits being even stronger, and her family legacy being even more important, Rabbitmist agreed, becoming the first molly to have an arranged mateship in the family.

Soon after this agreement was made, Creamcloud passed, ridding Rabbitmist of the one remaining cat who would correct her stories.

A quarter moon later, Antlerpaw and Deerpaw became Antlernight and Deerspring. Three moons later, and Rabbitmist began hanging out with Antlernight more and more, the pair getting to know each other for a season before Antlernight suggested kits.

Rabbitmist, excited at the prospect of being back in the Nursery quickly agreed, and in 1942, she gave birth to four daughters. Fireweedkit, Willowkit, Maplekit, and Sagekit.