#Brokenstar's Cataclysm
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do you have a quick link to information about Brokenstar, Runningnose, and Skypelt? I'm curious about the story behind Runny's acorn necklace and I want to read about Brokenstar becoming SkyClan's guardian, and how he was able to follow Firestar/help him restore SkyClan. i've been having a hard time finding it
I need to finish (or at least *reasonably complete*) the SE where Fire and Broken go to resurrect SkyClan. That is called Firestar's Quietus. Brokenstar's origin, which completely replaces Yellowfang's Secret, is called Brokenstar's Cataclysm and that's another one I need to complete.
The exact story has undergone a lot of revision SO I'm gonna take a quick break to try and compile some Best Hits of BB!Runningnose's and BB!Brokenstar's dynamic to get you up to speed, and make a definitive list of what's currently canon to Better Bones
And, because this is DEFINITELY the change that raises the most eyebrows and it's a good opportunity to make an intro,
"Elder Bones, what's all this I hear about your Not-Totally-Evil Brokenstar?"
He's still evil lmao, but he's not BORN evil in BB. NO ONE is.
BB is a story about culture. It's about a lot of things, family, anti-authoritarianism, xenophobia... but at its core, Better Bones is about how people impact culture, and how it acts on people.
Something I realized early in this process is that Canon Brokenstar, who is a born-evil punishment for SkyClan's exile (this is CANON, go re-read Yellowfang's Secret if you don't remember!), only made worse by abuse and enabling, does not effectively tell a story about culture.
Depending on your reading, Canon!Brokenstar is either a cosmic horror story or one about abuse. Could Yellowfang have saved him (and ShadowClan) with love? The book implies no, it was his destiny, just the medcat den was hers.
But looking at Canon!Lizardfang who let him get bullied*, and Canon!Raggedpelt who enabled him every step of the way as Sagewhisker held Yellowfang back, you could also read it as someone who was treated so horribly that he did horrible things to others. That he wanted respect and this is how he got it
So, okay, you could read that it's the fault of this bad woman, bullying, and this overly permissive dad that he became a baby killer. Problem solved?
HOWEVER... the Erins also refuse to actually write about people who unironically love his philosophy, because they don't want Brokenstar to be systemic. Blackfoot, the posterboy for a Broken-supporter, gets to reckon with how sad his childhood was and how he was only ever a mislead kitty who Truly Loved His Clan, as opposed to Brokenstar, who was Born Evil And Did Not Truly Love His Clan.
Blackstar's greatest flaw wasn't xenophobia, or hatred. He wasn't groomed by a society that glorifies violence and pushes a might-makes-right mentality. He just followed The Bad Person. With the death of The Bad People, society is fine :)
This is a recurring dichotomy. Leopardstar was good all along, Tigerstar was bad all along, Needletail was good all along, Darktail was bad all along. The Erins are not telling a story about how Clan Culture produces villains, or how it makes good people do terrible things, they tell stories about treacherous Evil People who always had a seed of badness inside of them.
-Onestar's Confession, Page 704
This is their guiding philosophy, and it's what Better Bones sets out to reject.
So, Brokenstar.
I realized while drawing him this one time that I was making him look too much like Tigerstar. Charismatic and puffed up, ready to twist the code to fit his own ends. Then it hit me-- why am I telling the same story twice?
BB!Tigerstar is the inheritor of Thistle Law, apprentice of Thistleclaw, with a backstory where he was a lonely, abused child and seeks respect to fill that hole. He's getting all sorts of reduxes to explore him, and the way that violent ideologies recruit (and prey on) angry and lonely people. Why should I just... have two Tigerstars, but one of them is explored less?
AND, I would waste the fascinating idea that Brokenstar is a manifested curse. Why remove something so cool, when instead, I could lean into that...? Then I started to realize...
Why didn't they ever connect Brokenstar to the resurrection of SkyClan, if he is this manifested curse?
So, enough preamble. Come below the cut and I'll tell you about the story in Better Bones so far...
BB!Brokenstar is not born evil. He is born angry.
He was ALWAYS going to happen. His birth, his ambition, and his fury were inevitable.
This is a curse that was laid generations ago, at the end of Ripplestar's Rot.
The last-ditch attempt to save SkyClan was literally crushed by StarClan itself, blasting the base of the blighted 5th Tree of Fivetrees and sending it toppling down to smite Ripplestar.
That tree was the symbol of SkyClan and their place in the forest. All the love, comfort, and memories that they had ever put into that oak had a power of their own-- and they took form on that night.
Brokenstar is not the only "entity" of this type. Star Flower, eons ago, was another. BB contains many new types of entities beyond, and even adjacent to StarClan. Gods, curses, guardians, other religions of equal standing...
But he needed to be born to someone. In return for Dawnstar's kindness, taking in Cloudstar's young children (Re: Ripplestar's Rot), ShadowClan would be the eye of the storm.
And it would be a Cleric who bore him, just like Larkstripe, who had been cruelly separated from her only kitten.
Yellowfang, Shroompelt at the time, this was before her Dishonor Title, saw when he was born that he was furious. She'd never seen a newborn look so angry.
In Brokenstar's Cataclysm, she only gets the opening chapter. It's enough to establish how Sagewhisker pressured her into the role, the lengths she went to in order to keep this secret, the reason for his name despite it not matching his tail.
NOTE: Brokentail's name, Kanochswash, means Broken-in-half-tail. He has two breaks in his tail, making three segments. It matches the way the oak was broken, once at the base, again against the rock, but it is actually obvious in Clanmew that his name does not refer to his tail.
Or, it's obvious to Lizardstripe at least... who is VERY different in BB. Old followers will know, she is a very loyal friend of Bluestar herself, and a member of her inter-Clan friendgroup, the Forget-Me-Nots.
She really doesn't want to be in this situation, doesn't LIKE being a mother, and Mudfoot is unhelpful... but she's the most perceptive of the Forget-Me-Nots. She hears that name, sees Shroompelt's distant eyes, and it clicks. She sometimes looks for things to complain about so Shroompelt has an excuse to stay in the den for a while.
But Lizardstripe is not raising Brokenkit. Raggedstar is. Raggedstar is Brokenkit's Mi, and Raggedstar alone. He's pointedly adamant about that, and as soon as Brokenkit doesn't need round-the-clock suckling, he started sleeping in the Leader's Den with dad.
Unfortunately, being the golden child of the leader did not pair nicely with Brokenkit's short fuse.
And he made a little friend.
What first drew Runningkit to Brokenkit was that he was very large. Runningkit LOVED pissing off one of his siblings, and then hiding behind his bestie who was younger than them but already as big as a stump.
When Lizardstripe tried to do anything about this, Raggedstar would get pissed off at her, insisting that his son needed to be with his friends.
Together, the two of them learned they could do whatever they wanted, as long as they stuck together. With Runny's brain and Broken's brawn, they weren't even a year old and already unstoppable.
And their idea of "unstoppable" was... mostly getting seconds when they'd already eaten and pushing against the horrors of bedtime. Sneaking out and collecting acorns. Being allowed to practice with the warriors.
Even better, since being the leader's kitten meant everyone tended to be extra nice to Broken to butter up to Ragged.
If they got what they wanted, they were sweet to adults. But from watching her son, and from being friends with Lizardstripe, Shroompelt knew that they could be vicious when they wanted to be.
And from a young age, Brokenkit knew that he needed to become Brokenstar... and Runningkit promised he'd get him there.
You might be noticing something.
Brokenstar was always loved, very, very much.
Spoiled? Absolutely. A little bully? You bet.
Not yet more than the sort of things angry, spoiled kids get up to.
The point I'm meticulously building here is that BB!Brokenstar WAS LOVED, and he loved in turn.
It won't stop what is about to happen.
Brokenkit was only a few months old when his father became leader, after Cedarstar was killed in the war with WindClan. Heatherstar wanted the Mothermouth Moorland; a floodplain just beyond the Carrionplace, which grows flax and many other medicinal flowers.
It was something the two clans had fought over before, that IS the code's Right of Challenge, but Heatherstar wanted all of it. She'd even killed the practice of tunneling to dedicate all of her forces to take it.
If you are not strong enough to keep something, you do not deserve to have it. This is what the Code says.
And strength is what Brokenkit quickly learned.
Taking extra bowls of food means nothing in the fall when the prey grows fat, but ShadowClan's marsh freezes fast.
You can't whine up a second bowl when not everyone even got a first.
Do you defend your territory? Or focus on survival? When the challenges are frequent, you have to go without eating to defend them.
And yes, you're hungry, but it's for a reason.
Brokenkit wasn't out of kithood when he saw his first death, because people were already dying before he was born.
In skirmishes, in hunting accidents, to infection because they didn't have enough herbs. Starvation in winter.
From a very young age, he was taught this is the way of Clans, and this is because of WindClan.
And his ambition to become deputy only became stronger. Runningpaw hatched a plan to get into the Cleric den, against Shroompelt's will.
Brokenpaw got into fights at Gatherings over ShadowClan's honor, enthusiastically bowled into battle against WindClan raids, became Raggedstar's best little rat hunter.
And he saw clanmates he loved dying.
Over many years, through his warriorhood, into his deputyship.
Cloudpelt, Foxheart, Toadskip, Nutwhisker. Lizardstripe was killed during an event called Heatherstar's Last Stand, her neck snapped by the WindClan warrior Flytail.
Heatherstar died, and her much more reasonable and peaceful deputy, Tallstar... continued to keep the Moorland she won.
ShadowClan went through that last winter, again trying to win their land back, but beaten so hard they couldn't mount a resistance. More cats collapsed in the snow, Mudfoot was one of them.
WindClan won. The land was theirs now. Out of his magnanimity, Tallstar reached out to Raggedstar and made him an unprecedented offer. He would give him a tax of rabbits, for peace. ShadowClan would stop attacking, and formally acknowledge that WindClan was the victor of the war.
A peace deal, a surrender.
Tallstar didn't have to do that. If his Clan won, it was his land in the eyes of StarClan. He had no obligation to reach out in this way, and Raggedstar acknowledged that.
But it made Brokentail SICK.
He couldn't believe that Raggedstar was going to buy this, let WindClan keep THEIR LAND and just send them back some of their own rabbits. What happens next?? What if WindClan decides to come further south, what then? What will Tallstar ask for next? What price will his warriors pay for the blood they spilled?
And this is the moment that Brokentail kills his father. On his last life, frail and weak after an entire life of fighting, he decided that the last kindness he could give him was a quick death, preventing him from taking that deal.
Runningnose sprang into action as soon as he'd been told about it; helping him to cover up the murder.
And together, they turned to TOTAL war.
Once, as an apprentice, Brokenstar recalled the words of a warrior at a Gathering. A parable of thistles-- how they don't care what attacks them. They don't hold back. How they will choke out the whole field who they can thrive.
Is that not the conclusion of Might Makes Right? If you can, you must, before they do it to you.
An apprentice becomes a warrior-- stop that from happening.
Don't let your enemies escape to fight again-- kill them when you have the chance.
Their herb stores are just as limited as yours-- dwindle them with infection and poison.
WindClan Must Pay, every single one of them. All the Clans are tomorrow's rivals, they have to go too.
Everything is for ShadowClan, and he was LOVED for it.
well.... by many.
This is about Brokenstar and Runningnose, but I must mention that there's also a lot of people who oppose him. Who realize this as evil. Nightpelt, Cinderfur, Deerfoot, Dawncloud and Stumptail are some of them.
And, importantly, Shroompelt was one of them. Whenever she learned of some code-breaking thing they'd done, she would make waves about it.
The word of a Cleric has an immense amount of weight, and it prevented Brokenstar from ending this war once and for all.
So Runningnose, as always, constructed a plan. Brokenstar decided it was a sacrifice that must be made.
Marigoldkit and Mintkit (kits of Rowanberry and Clawface) were in the Cleric's den for an infection.
Marigoldkit was a blind girl, and very fussy about taking her medicine.
Shroompelt would serve it to her in a berry capsule, either knout or rasp, a naturally red berry one.
Runningnose simply swapped her medicine with yew, and made sure that Mintkit was able to witness his sister being fed red berries over many days.
When Marigoldkit died, Mintkit was a distraught child who could only communicate that Shroompelt fed her "Red Berries," like the ones he'd been taught to stay away from.
Shroompelt IMMEDIATELY turned on Runningnose, accusing him of killing a blind kitten.
And he turned it on her. She'd fallen right into his trap. "You did this! You've been wanting us to stop fighting WindClan, and now you've stooped so low that you're trying to get rid of StarClan's only other messenger! You've killed your own nespring!"
Many cats of ShadowClan had completely lost patience with her before this, and were now shocked to see that she'd do such a thing. While some suspected the truth, in the end, Brokenstar's word is law.
And his law was that he would show mercy on an ex-Clanmate. But from here on, her name was Yellowfang, so that the world may be forewarned that StarClan rotted her teeth from so many lies as she walked in exile.
Brokenstar's Cataclysm ends on the WindClan Massacre. A bloody event where well over a dozen cats are slaughtered, and Brokenstar resurrects an ancient practice at the bellowing request of his warriors-- Kitten Stealing.
(The only time BB!Brokenstar uses a child soldier is during this battle, apprenticing Badgerpaw early so that he can participate in the all-out assault.)
With WindClan gone, he turned his sight on the other two. The Clans were cursed to die as they lived-- overpowered by a stronger, more bloodthirsty tyrant, violently driven out just as SkyClan had once been.
From there, the rest is very close to canon. Brokenstar is deposed by a coup, one that NEVER would have succeeded if it wasn't for Bluestar and her apprentice, Firepaw. The Curse is thwarted by change. Cats of different Clans working together in the name of righteousness.
Bluestar could have gone, grabbed the kits, and come back, but she knew that WindClan would never be able to return if Brokenstar was still in power.
This time around, ShadowClan's plague was intentional. Runningnose infected Nightstar on purpose.
He wanted to eliminate a weak leader... and a treacherous rogue who had defied his own.
Collateral damage was acceptable, if it eliminated as many of Nightstar's supporters as possible.
And yet, his brother Deerfoot survived. Sentimentality? Just luck? Who knows.
If Runningnose has any regrets for anything he's done, it's only this. That he cleared out ShadowClan for Tigerstar's rule.
He approved of him at first, interpreted signs to benefit him, even killed for this old ally of Brokenstar...
but Tigerstar's goal was to abolish ShadowClan, and make a TigerClan of his own. Brokenstar never wanted this, and neither did Runningnose.
What Runny really wants, more than anything, is what Brokenstar wants. Destroying WindClan is a bonus, eliminating all of their enemies is anger that they were able to obstruct him. Runningnose thinks he loves power, but what he REALLY loves is his ability to get Brokenstar what he wants.
Everything he's ever done has been in pursuit of that goal. He doesn't care that he'll be going to the Dark Forest in the end, that's where Brokenstar is going to be. Hell is wherever he isn't.
In life, neither one of them knew anything about the curse, or destiny. Brokenstar reconnects with memories in his death.
And he started having dreams of SkyClan, which he communicated to Runningnose through channeling.
I'm working on the full outline of Firestar's Quietus right now so I'm going to be a bit more brief;
Runningnose got Firestar involved on this quest because he's a little goody two shoes. Of COURSE he would agree to help... that's who Firestar is.
He brings him to the moonstone, where a scene similar to canon plays out where StarClan tries to encourage him to go back to his Clan and ignore what he now knows.
And, of course, he tells them to shove it.
Firestar's Quietus is a book about righting wrongs. Brokenstar as a curse means that what he needs, in the end, is peace.
The peace he needs is the knowledge that SkyClan will be saved, and that it will survive.
Runningnose is willing to let him go, in order to get what he needs. He passes off an acorn necklace to Firestar, so that he can channel him with ease on his journey
In this gesture, it becomes real that he will go to an afterlife without him. After all he'd ever done and been through.
So, he hesitates before handing it off, but makes Firestar promise to take good care of it.
On this journey, Brokenstar and Firestar do a lot of bickering about how SkyClan should come back. The sort of values they should have, who should lead it...
But in the end, Brokenstar realizes, they will be something new. They'll choose their own path in life, because that's what it means to be alive.
And his final action is to face The Rats, now supernatural creatures of their own, finally dispelling the threat that faced SkyClan.
Having done his job as a Guardian, he can finally rest. His necklace is buried overlooking the Gorge, returning SkyClan's guardian to them.
Eventually he falls during AVoS, in Darktail's attack, killing several of the kin and their rebels and allowing Leafstar and co a chance to escape.
For more on Skypelt, see this little guide I made on the afterlife locations. Hopefully one day I can clean this up into its own entry.
More stuff to check out (that I found while searching for other posts but are cool and I'm re-sharing);
Jaggedtooth isn't a villain anymore
"What's your favorite ShadowClan-adjacent change?"
First post I made on Tigerstar's Paws
Brokenstar's two honor-kits, Littlecloud and Rowanclaw
On curses and anger
"What does Runningnose think of the other TPB Clerics?" Hates em!
A rundown on all ShadowClan leaders post-Ripplestar
Cedarstar sketch
First post on StarClan Technicality Brokenstar lmao
IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS ABOUT SKYPELT
Some specifics on the religion/entity/magic mechanics in BB
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The really difficult and honestly a little devastating thing about writing for Shadowclan--not that that’s what I’m currently doing, wink--is that unlike the other three, there is very little of their modern history that isn’t taking place during a severe cultural upheaval.
The other clans, I can hop down into mostly any moment of recent history pre-apocalypse, and give you some insight into their normal. Depending on when it is, there might be political schisms, or serious tension, or something unusual going on, but life continues ordinarily enough for you to learn their cultural ways organically--even if some are not in fashion any longer, or are being challenged or changed. Every clan is always in cultural flux, because there’s always innovation, new interpretations of old traditions, and situations that disrupt normal life--for better or worse--but Shadowclan’s modern history simply doesn’t have that base-line.
It presents a unique problem, for me at least. Shadowclan exist, and have for several generations by the time of apocalypse, in a state of intense cultural fracture and, in a lot of ways, they’re already living in a diasporic state before leaving their territory. So many of their older cats are dead. Their original medicine cat was deposed. They lived through two tyrannical leaders, including one from an entirely different culture who sought to collapse Shadowclan’s boundaries in a total annexation of all clans, in short succession. Their warriors experienced a civil war and resultingly many were displaced from the clan for several seasons, and then came back. It can’t really be understated how much all this would impact... everything.
That’s not to say what remains of culture isn’t authentic. Diasporic culture is still culture, is still authentic and real and true, is still valuable and worth knowing. But it’s often a reflection of the origin, not really an imitation, adapted through the new context--often quite considerably. You can’t really use what you see in the post-Brokenstar era to accurately grasp what Shadowclan’s culture was, because what you’re seeing is the old culture strained several times through a sieve of major community traumas.
Basically, it’s an interesting problem compared to the rest, and is honestly quite difficult to account for in writing. And also makes me sad for them. Each clan has their social and cultural issues de jour, of course, but Shadowclan is the only one where I can’t be like [diogenes voice] “behold, a clan” and consider my work done, because if I did do that without finding some way to counterbalance it in relation to the everything of their situation, then readers will walk away thinking what they saw is true of Shadowclan in default rather than symptoms of cataclysmic social changes.
#personal#this is something i've thought about a lot and is why shadowclan is what i've written the least about so far.#how much of shadowclan has been lost and is irreplaceable? so many elders just died and everything they knew is gone.#a lot of shadowclan's cats are also not clan-born. they're adopted into the clan and if they haven't been taught already then it's gone.#anyone who knows a shred of colonial history can tell you what kind of damage a ruler with no knowledge or respect can do#and tigerclaw just rocked up with a heart full of hate and a head full of empty and turned shadowclan into a war machine. again.#do love that erins hunter's like 'here's an evil clan. yes they were seriously impoverished + the status quo was actively against them +#+ experienced violent coups/tyranny + civil war + devastating plague/s + famine + are maligned for their ~deformed~ appearances +#are disdained by/pitied by/rescued by The Wealthy Good Guy Clan--what? yes i'm english why do you ask'#like sorry erins hunter but i mean really. i don't want to cast aspersions but this is arguably The Most British Take on politics.#sometimes the rudyard kipling jumps out at you i guess.
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What ends up happening to Sagewhisker? Does Brokenstar kill her, or does she die of old age?
She still dies of a heart attack, shortly after Brokenkit is weaned. She was actually VERY old; her aunt and mentor, Redthistle, was the Cleric of ShadowClan during Darkstar's Commandment.
Sagewhisker took the role some time during the Crusades, so she's only a year or two younger than Pinestar.
Yellowfang is older, too. She's well into her teens during TPB, BB!Cats have a natural lifespan of like 16 years barring medical problems.
I think it would be very funny if she dropped dead arguing with Lizi, ratio'd so hard she just fucken keels over lmaooo
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I definitely agree with all this Sagewhisker slander, but I do want to say that when I read Yellowfang's SE, the refusal to treat Cloudpaw did make sense to me. To be fair I can't remember if this is actually true to the books or just fanon, but I thought that it was mentioned once that ShadowClan would use deathberries as a form of euthanasia for cats too sick or injured to save, so it read like a decision that Was definitely despicable but making sense within their culture.
Within BB, what is the reaction to Sage's refusal to treat Cloud? Is there one? Or is it not even known to the clan? I feel like a cleric refusing to treat a wounded apprentice would be a big deal
It's only mentioned once, in Po3: Eclipse! Littlecloud suggests that Leafpool should keep deathberries in her den in case she needs to kill a terminal patient. Leafpool Politely Declines, Jaypaw thinks killing patients sounds based.
I'll repeat what I said in my analysis of the Fading Echoes "memory," though; if it was so important, why did they choose not to say it when it was relevant? Yellowfang’s Secret is a big book. They can include a line explaining it.
But most importantly; THAT'S STILL AWFUL! Sagewhisker took one look at an apprentice and GAVE UP. Yellowfang is upset at how FAST she just shrugged her shoulders, and Sagewhisker continues to go "you cant save everyone."
This wasn't a cat dying of something terminal and unsurvivable. She looked at battle wounds on a teenager and gave up.
Anyway! BB!
I don't think it's COMMON knowledge... but it is known. Clerics are holy. They're interpreters of StarClan's will and conduits of their power. You wouldn't dare talk about it openly.
In accordance with shuffling the timeline, Cloudpelt is now also a lot older. I'm also doing a shuffle; Nightpelt and Clawface are his sons instead of half-brothers. Sagewhisker's refusal to treat him happened before Lizi was born.
So Lizi probably heard it from her mentor, Finchflight, or it was whispered to her at some point. In either case-- Sagewhisker has a reputation from it. She is probably bothered by this, and feels it's "unfair." She didn't refuse in front of anyone but Shroompelt, so at some point, this ungrateful wretch leaked it.
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Are you doing anything particularly interesting with Sagewhisker or Raggedstar?
(also I love somebody else who appreciates Stormcloud, should've been a pov, I mean the Firestar parallels-)
Erins stop neglecting your side characters challenge. Stormcloud gets done soo dirty ://
Anyway!
Yellowfang’s Secret is getting redone into Brokenstar's Cataclysm. Much as I love Yellowfang, Brokenstar is getting suuuuper reduxed in BB and he needs to be the POV so I can tell his story. She has the opening and the rest is him.
What I want to set up in that opening, though, is at least a little bit of how hard people have made Yellowfang’s (Shroompelt at the time) life. Raggedstar isn't AS bad as he was, but their relationship was still pretty volatile. Sagewhisker pressured her into the role, just like canon.
I don't regret gutting YS though, to be honest. The original book is pretty freakin' miserable exactly because of Sage and Ragged, without any catharsis for how much torture the main character goes through. I think it works a lot better as an opening, thematically.
"Here's the culture which Brokenstar is being born into. See how his mother is absolutely miserable under this system, being forced to give up her child, pressured into her position. Happiness is offered between friends but there are deeper issues here that love won't fix."
So even though I'm pretty fascinated by Sagewhisker and think the fandom really sleeps on how terrible she is, I'm planning to use her as a minor but emotionally significant character.
And RAGGEDSTAR is going to be explicitly used as the father who Brokenstar loved very much, but someone he is willing to kill in the end. His enabling is also going to get exploited by Runningnose and his schemes. He's a major supporting character in a different way from YS.
#Better bones au#Brokenstar's Cataclysm#I strongly feel it works best this way#Because the simple truth is that Sage and Ragged don't really get comeuppance. Not for their actual shitty behavior#For other things. But not for how they hurt Yellow#AndI think a large part of what makes YS such a miserable read is just that#I think a different rewrite could fix that thougg#Connect Broken more to the things that ruined Yellow's life and make a tragedy out of her having to put her avenger down#For the sake of the clans as a whole#But that's not what BB!TPB or my whole rewrite is really about. Yknow?#I'm not writing a story about how clan culture needs to be protected from change. It needs to be torn down. It needs to be fixed.#So just showing how awful sage and ragged were to yellow in the opening works best instead of... Lingering on it#for lack of better words#bone babble
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Could you tell us some more about your Lizardstripe? It always annoyed me that the only cat in canon to point out double standards regarding kits was also the horrible mother that they blamed for all of Brokenstar’s issues. I’m glad she’s portrayed more sympathetically here though, with her friend group and role as Bluestar’s lawyer.
Anything out of BB!ShadowClan takes like, a Star Wars opening scroll of text to explain to an outsider and that's how I LIKE IT
It's my personal mission to inject nuance chemical into every woman demonized by Canon WC. Brokenstar isn't bad because he had a sad childhood or something, it was literally generations of culture turning toxic and demanding a cosmic reckoning from which he was born, moulded by, and ultimately embodied of his own free will.
Evil Women Who Weren't Good Mothers aren't responsible for his actions
Anyway, Lizardstripe.
She is gonna get her own summary at some point (I kinda want to do a ShadowClan Month at some point for the biggest ShC characters, like Nightstar, Russetfur, Stumptail, etc), but here's shards for now;
She's related to old Finchflight in some way. The timeline is getting reduxed and Finch is VERY dead by the time of TPB.
So she's either a child of his, or a niece. Finch is Yellowfang’s age (mid teens in TPB), Lizard is Bluestar's (10-ish)
She was a young mom, less than 2, she met the Forget-me-nots after she was already pregnant.
She wasn't actually raising Brokenstar, just suckling him. Ragged was doing that.
Lizard was still not a great mom. She didn't enjoy it at all, and was often getting bored and frustrated
She would often bring the kittens out into the woods on training exercises, activities they were TOO young for.
Runningkit, Deerkit, and Tanglekit were always covered in dings, bumps, ticks, and things that kept putting them in Yellowfang’s den as a result. Lizard was talked to more than once for this
When Brokenkit joined in on this, mysteriously, he was NEVER covered in dings. Like he was developing faster and was more agile than the others. Deerkit was jealous, Tanglekit thought it was AWESOME
Runningkit was developing a bit of a bully streak, realizing that he could exploit this by getting his sibs mad at him, and then hiding behind Broken
Lizard was always being forced to step in and take control of the situations by trying to break up the Dastardly Duo, but then would be OVERRULED by Raggedstar, who wanted his son to hang out with his friend
If Yellowfang didn't notice it herself, she would definitely learn through Lizard that these two should NOT be allowed to multiply their terror with power
But, that's more about them than Lizard.
She's a lot more than just someone's mom. She's a friend of Bluestar's, and the ShadowClan representative in the Forget-me-nots!
WOW her ShadowClan sense of humor is sharp. She can be VICIOUS
She often finds herself having to smooth her jokes over after making a comment that's too mean. What's just part of ShadowClan humor can be cutting to cats in other Clans
Oakheart is actually the one cat who never seems to get hurt, "i like your funny words lizardman"
She likes teasing Bluefur, she's just so easily flustered! And she cares so much about other people,
"Stars, you make me want to yack up a hairball, Bloof."
When Bluefur earns the name Bluemoon (unsure how yet) Lizardstripe b'awws that her nickname is going to be too cool now.
(In Clanmew, it's Luparfaf, Luf, vs Luparshom, Lum)
Lizardstripe and Barley Senior are the two smartest members of the group. Barley is all about logistics, schemas, building and working out plans for meeting up and not getting caught.
Lizardstripe knows what's going on in people's heads. She can be a manipulative mastermind, when she REALLY wants something.
I think she gave Blue and Hoprunner a lot of good advice on how to achieve their ambitions, but, she wasn't really interested in that extra responsibility herself
"What and have to deal with Raggedstar's wishy washy ass and his angelic brat more than i already do? I'd rather kiss a thistle."
What Lizi really liked in her life was the pleasure of it all. Sneaking around, teasing Bluefur, helping out Barley, wrestling Hoprunner. Playing games with her Clanmates, staying late at Gatherings.
She loves her freedom, the ability to decide where to spend her time
She was the first of the Forget-me-nots to die, a year or two after Bluestar took power, in a ferocious battle with WindClan.
Current draft: Talltail's son, Flytail, killed her violently in Heatherstar's Last Stand, the decisive battle that truly "ended" the Mothermouth Moorland War.
After that battle, ShadowClan lost a strategic area and could never regain their foothold. Raggedstar tried to surrender the next year, which was when Brokentail killed him.
Lizardstripe and Mudfoot being lost in the same year was one of the things he and Runningnose cited to each other as "reasons why" WindClan had to pay
If they died for nothing, if SO many had just fought in a war they lost... then it was all for nothing.
Warriors don't accept peace deals.
They fight, they fight to the last cat standing.
I think the news hit all of the Forget-me-nots hard. They hadn't met up in a while, their ambitions driving them apart over time, but... that didn't make it less difficult. No one thought she would be the first.
I think she's my favorite of the little friend group tbh, I'm fond of the Angel Lawyer Friend.
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would runningnose count as a dishonor title or did yellowfang just hate him
It's literally just Yellowfang (Shroompelt at the time) hating him fgfdsgfd
She did not want to train him, Brokenstar just convinced his dad to shove his friend into the role and Raggedstar gave him what he wanted
(Paraphrased conversation)
Runningpaw: "tell your father that yellowfang is being unfair to me because she has something against you"
Brokenpaw: "Fantastic idea! I expect no less from my loyal cleric!"
Raggedstar: "Yellowfang you have to take Runningpaw. Listen-- I know you hate our son--"
Shroompelt: "NO you moron, I don't want to do it because that Runningpaw is a devious little bastard and I don't trust him with poisons. Or StarClan's messages but mostly the poisons"
Raggedstar: "You disgust me, Yellowfang. He's only an apprentice, and just as smart and loyal as his parents, how dare you speak like this to your leader! You will take him!"
Shroompelt: "You tell that little punk that if he's foisted into MY den, I'll try to pluck him out like a tick and name him Runningnose."
(If you're curious about his name in Clanmew, it's actually Sslopchoop, which means 'snot-nose.' Sslop' describes wet and sticky mud and in any other context would describe something sleek and malleable, but if you have sslop coming out of a body part it's a way to phrase phlegm, a nosebleed clod, or really thick mucus. Lizardstripe DID also pick this prefix with his distinct nose marking in mind though)
#Runningnose 100% does not care about his embarrassing name though#How stupid of her to think it would stop him#Truly. She never should have trusted him with poisons#Not that she had much of a choice.#WHEN A BOY IS BAD. THAT CAN BE A VERY SPECIAL THING#I lvoe him sir#BB!Runningnose#Better bones au#BB!TPB#Brokenstar's Cataclysm
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I'm going to assume that Mudclaw (The Shadowclan one) is just as uninvolved in rasing his kids with Lizardstripe as in canon?
His name is Mudfoot in BB exactly to avoid that confusion, which also just personally feels right imo. His canon design is his brown feet which look like mud, y'know?
But yep. Lizardstripe liked being his mate, but found he was not as reliable in his personal relationships as he is in his professional ones. I wouldn't describe him as a 'sleaze' the way I love describing most bad dads in BB, he's more... interested in adult things, like construction. He looked forward to his children being old enough to learn from him but didn't LOVE Lizardstripe, or the young, mewling kittens.
He feels like he's just staring at them, unhelpful, frustrated by how bored and miserable Lizardstripe is. The kittens were not planned, and it felt like a bad situation was thrust on him. He was able to avoid it so he did-- and left Lizard in a lurch.
She snuck out a lot in those days, this was around the time she was first meeting the Forget-Me-Nots.
But anyway, Mudfoot was a better dad to his three kids when they were older kits and apprentices. Deerfoot and Tangleburr in particular got close to him, Runningpaw was more focused on his ambitions of power. Mudfoot died during a particularly harsh winter, literally working himself to death, collapsing traumatically of a heart attack in the middle of the snowy camp.
All three kids were hit badly by it, but Runny most of all.
He was never close to him. Never really got to know him, always kinda resented him for how he was when they were little... and then he was gone. Slipped away under his paws, totally powerless to do anything in spite of all his training.
That was a couple months after Lizardstripe's death, and only weeks before Raggedstar's attempted peace deal. It was the final moment for Runningnose and Brokentail, in mutual, wicked agreement; "WindClan will pay for this. By any means necessary."
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ShadowClan Patch Notes
For the big rewrite I’m doing. Here is a compilation of the biggest changes I’m doing to ShadowClan for the first arc. In particular, there are major changes to 1. Brokenstar, 2. ShadowClan culture and history, and 3. various background characters.
Timeline things are also slightly shuffled around, as well as some family tree rewrites to allow modern ShadowClan to be ‘cleaner‘ genetically.
I’m tentatively calling a story I would tell with these changes “Brokenstar’s Cataclysm,“ replacing Yellowfang’s Secret (which is a book I beef with)
Brokenstar Changes:
First of all, Brokenstar’s reign lasts MUCH longer. It’s several years, not six months, and he was deputy for a long time before that.
StarClan desperately tried to prevent him from being born. In fact, they’ve been stalling since SkyClan’s Exile by strictly controlling medicine cats, but his arrival was inevitable.
There were once five trees at ‘fourtrees‘, but after the exile, one fell over and cracked in half against the Highrock. It was an omen; his broken tail resembles it.
He even looks like a SkyClan warrior, actually. His back legs are huge, his paws are thick, he’s very good at climbing and was excellent at ambushing his opponents from above.
He did not kill Raggedstar nine times, and was his loyal deputy through a long-standing war with WindClan. It was started by Heatherstar long ago for full control of the Mothermouth moors.
Most importantly, he isn’t ‘born evil.‘ He was born angry. He has a short fuse and a ruthless sense of justice, his tyrannical mindset is given to him by the clans and is an extreme reflection of the clan’s battle culture, not an innate lack of morals.
Culture Changes:
WindClan abandoned the tunneler role because of this war; enlisting all of their skilled diggers as above-ground warriors and letting the peaceful tradition die in order to win.
Because of fury with this war, ShadowClan is willing to do whatever it takes to fight back.
The war has been going since before Yellowfang was even born;
Brokenstar can’t remember a time they weren’t fighting.
ShadowClan often has to push into ThunderClan and even RiverClan territory when times get especially rough.
Brokenstar has never seen another clan offer aid.
Honor is gradually eroded from both clans; the first code that ShadowClan becomes lax about is “a warrior does not need to kill to win their battles.“ The rest follow.
When Tallstar became leader, he decided to uphold Heatherstar’s legacy and keep the contested moorland in gracious “exchange” for aid.
Brokenstar has never seen another clan admit they were wrong.
ShadowClan becomes VERY divided on Brokenstar’s methods. He’s ruthless and rules with iron claws; but because of them, they won a war that lasted three generations.
Supporting Cast Changes:
Lizardstripe
No longer cartoonishly abusive. She’s harsh, mean, and has a sadistic sense of humor... but is greatly respected in her clan.
She really shouldn’t have been a parent though. She treats her kittens like warriors and expects the three of them to sort things out between themselves.
When she’s bored she tends to run ‘exercises,‘ which tend to be too harsh to be age-appropriate. Her kits are in the medicine den a lot for small injuries.
Sagewhisker prevents Yellowfang from arguing, overprotective of causing suspicion.
Lizardstripe is less of an ‘adoptive mother‘ to Brokenkit and more of a wet nurse. He’s allowed to join their exercises though... acclimating him to the idea of training kits early.
Mudfoot (previously Mudclaw; the only name changes I’m making are for repeat characters) was a really cool dude, but a very traditional mate who didn’t help Lizardstripe out a lot.
He dies of overworking himself in the middle of a leafbare, when there wasn’t enough food to go around.
This became a formative memory for Brokenpaw.
Raggedstar
Overly permissive just like in canon
His nine lives are tragically short, lost in battles, greencough outbreaks, and general starvation because of the war.
His last, weary act was going to be accepting Tallstar’s offer of aid to end the war he’d fought his whole life, giving WindClan the mothermouth moorland in the process
He was on his last life.
Brokenstar wouldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let that happen. If he did, then what was all that suffering even for?
Runningnose
Brokenstar’s close confidant, his most important supporter.
Runny has a KNACK for manipulation and rule-bending.
Appointed as medicine cat apprentice by Raggedstar at Brokenpaw’s insistence.
Yellowfang didn’t like it but when has Raggedstar ever listened to the woman who’s right all the time?
She knew she couldn’t just reject him entirely so she went for the pride by saying, “Fine but I’ll get to pick his medicine cat name and it’s not going to be nice.“
StarClan didn’t want to talk to Runningnose at first, but then he responded to that by being super OK with talking to Dark Forest warriors.
After that StarClan spoke to him a lot more, like they were jealous or something.
Runny and Broken are extremely close, always running their schemes by each other. The smarter things are usually Runny’s ideas. Brute force is Broken’s calling card.
Runny came up with a lot of dark warfare ideas. He’d cover the claws of warriors in deathberry juice before a battle, he braided thorns into long fur. BloodClan would have been impressed.
He would neeeeever leave ShadowClan without a proper leader... but Nightstar is so frail, imagine what would happen if there was some sort of... epidemic.
How lucky for them that Tigerclaw happened to be in the right place at the right time! Lucky, lucky, lucky.
Deerfoot and Tangleburr
Indicative of the two ‘halves‘ of ShadowClan politically speaking
Deerfoot is a rebel, Tangleburr is a loyalist.
Tangleburr follows Brokenstar into exile, reconciling with Deerfoot when she re-joins ShadowClan under Tigerstar.
Deerfoot is eventually executed at the Bonehill after being caught helping Mistyfoot and the apprentices escape. He refuses to rat out any of his accomplices.
Tangleburr is devastated by this, but eventually outlives her entire litter and survives well into OOTS
I plan to use her as a background elder and give her a few kittens so ShadowClan isn’t just... SnowbirdClan.
She comes to terms with the way she was mistreated in childhood, and makes an effort to be better to her own children.
Newtspeck, Littlecloud, Rowanclaw
Newtspeck is in a sort of Goldenflower arrangement with Brokenstar.
They aren’t lovers, but she admires him enough to ask him to surrogate her kittens.
The two kits, Littlekit and Rowankit, are made apprentices at 3 moons. She supports this, swept up by ShadowClan’s bloodlust.
Brownpaw and Wetfoot are not hers; they’re swapped into Darkflower’s litter, making them Cedarheart’s brothers.
Newtspeck is a supporter of Brokenstar who fights for him during the battle, but doesn’t follow him into exile.
Brokenstar and Runningnose don’t think much of the two kits, but after Littlecloud survives the rat sickness epidemic, Runny sees a lot of his father in him.
He took him as his apprentice with great fondness, amused at how smart and adorable the little guy is.
Littlecloud has a special interest in prophecies, StarClan, the warrior code, basically everything to do with clan culture. His mouth runs a million miles a minute. Runny likes how it fills up the silence.
Rowanclaw has a harder time finding his place, eventually taking out his complicated feelings through a rivalry with Tawnypelt.
#ShadowClan#Clan Culture#warrior cats#warrior cats au#wc au#Bonefall Rewrite#Rowanclaw#Newtspeck#Littlecloud#Runningnose#Brokenstar#Raggedstar#Yellowfang#Deerfoot#Tangleburr#Lizardstripe#Brokenstar's Cataclysm
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Personally, when it comes to brokenstar, I hate the whole “born evil punishment!!!” Enough that we just. Deleted him. His name is Pinetail now.
Instead we decided to bring somebody who didn’t get the villainy they deserved out of the woodwork- good Ol’ Foxheart.
Do you plan on doing anything with her?
I am actually very fond of the idea that Brokenstar was a curse made manifest; but we abide by the shape of our form. If a curse is manifesting as a person, then a person it must be. No one is born evil, ergo not even the concept of pain and rage can be unsoothable if it's made of soft flesh.
So my Brokenstar isn't born evil; he's born angry. Short tempered and sensitive, molded by clan culture and its philosophy of might-makes-right. It was only radical change in the form of Bluestar helping to dethrone another Clan's tyrant that could stop him.
And most importantly, it's righting the ancient wrong of SkyClan's destruction that finally brings him peace.
But anyway! Foxheart!
She's remaining as a supporting character in the redux of Yellowfang’s Secret; Brokenstar's Cataclysm. Raggedstar's first deputy and generally a nasty individual. Her role is kinda reduced because the main character isn't Yellowfang anymore, but she is there.
Her son is Wolfstep! He is no longer her brother because the timeline is being stretched out. He's from a single kit litter and she was not heavily involved in his life. Deadbeat mom <3
They actually have a name tradition. Houndstar is their ancestor, he is the father of Mousewing, she gave birth to Foxheart, who had Wolfstep, and then the tradition ended with Badgerfang.
Him and Fernshade had another kitten at the lake but couldn't bring themselves to continue the tradition; Ivytail. Blackstar's niece.
#The story doesn't call for a bully because the point is how clan culture creates Brokenstar#And the choices he makes with Runny#Yellowfang’s Secret is... honestly one of my disliked SEs#I LOVE the glance we get into ShadowClan but the whole book is basically 'kick yellowfang for 1000 pages'#And she doesn't have her sass so she barely fights back. It's hard to read#She opens the book up though with Broken's birth#But that is her only POV chapter. The rest is told through Broken and Runny#Brokenstar's Cataclysm#Bonefall Rewrite
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any changes to yellowfang’s siblings? a glance at the wiki (since i couldnt remember anything about them) says that rowanberry was clawface’s mate and that nutwhisker mentored blackstar.
Rowanberry is now the mother of Mintkit and Marigoldkit! Rowan and Nut are Yellow's younger siblings, where she's something like 13, they're 9. Brightflower and Brackenfoot are long dead of old age. Timeline fixes.
This means Clawface is probably looking at 7 or 8, which tracks. I want him to be more like he was described in TPB as the strongest and most respected normal warrior of ShadowClan.
Their older son Stumptail is also going to be surviving well past TNP, instead of dying in the Ratbite Epidemic as canon implies. He's a bit of a ditz and takes everything literally, but is well-meaning.
Marigold was poisoned by Runningnose to frame Yellowfang, both to get Yellowfang out of the way and also to get rid of a weak kit with no use. Mintpool was last seen as an early warrior taking part in the WindClan massacre, the same fight that kills Badgerfang. I'm not sure when Mint dies-- it's either that night, or during the plague Runny used to kill Nightstar later.
#Bonefall TPB#Mintpool is not going to go on to have kits of his own though. Stumptail will be keeping that line alive.#Mintpool's a cat I'm keeping track of for a good kill#Bonefall Rewrite#Brokenstar's Cataclysm
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What are Runningnose's thoughts on TPB Medicine Cats?
Runny was Yellowfang's apprentice for a long time and got veryacquainted with the personalities of various Clerics over the years.
ThunderClan: Goosefeather, Featherwhisker, Spottedleaf, Cinderpelt
These cats are freaks and he hates them. Creepy, intense, nosy bastards. He only met Goosefeather a few times, but he hated his little eyes and dire seriousness. Featherwhisker was worse, always probing, asking questions, trying to get information out of him.
Spottedleaf had a good sense of humor, very ShadowClan-friendly, but she was a lot like Featherwhisker with her constant questions. Worse, it was like she knew something, even when he hadn't done anything wrong yet. Very unsettling.
Healthy leeches though. She has some beautiful specimens. If nothing else he can appreciate her leech husbandry.
And lastly there's Cinderpelt... she would be the only one he liked, if it wasn't for how Yellowfang was her mentor. Ugh, she took so much from Yellowfang, sometimes it's like being next to a blue-eyed clone, but with none of Brokenstar's handsomeness. Littlecloud likes her though, and he can appreciate how happy she makes him.
Another point to how much Littlecloud reminds him of Brokenstar.
WindClan: Barkface
Barkface is a very talented medic and an endless source of practical treatment information. Unfortunately, he is also from WindClan. Runningnose has wanted WindClan gone since kithood.
So it doesn't matter that Barkface is nice. He will use him for his information until the moment comes where WindClan is no more. This is a long term goal he has planned.
RiverClan: Brambleberry, Mudfur.
Normal people. Brambleberry is a good, wise person who's good at telling stories. Mudfur is happy to let there be silence, doesn't talk incessantly. Easily his favorite peers.
#Bonefall Runningnose#Bonefall rewrite#Bonefall TPB#None of this would have a chance to show in universe so consider this bonus info#Brokenstar's Cataclysm
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What's Yellowfang exiled from Shadowclan for, if you've taken out the kit killing? Is it just for general standing against the leader? How does Firestar feel about being accompanied by Brokenstar of all people during his SE?
Yellowfang is exiled from ShadowClan because of one, very intentional, premeditated kit killing for which she was framed. Runningnose killed Marigoldkit, to get Yellowfang out of the way.
Runningnose's Plot
Marigold (now Yellowfang's niece, not sister) developed an eye infection that was blinding her. To get her to take her medicine, Yellowfang was serving the poultice in a raspberry capsule.
Runny and Broken wanted her out of the way, for standing up against them. They were so very, very close to marching on the WindClan camp, but she refused to approve such a thing, arguing StarClan would not be pleased to see a Clan be destroyed. So Runny hatched a plan, to swap Marigold's raspberries with yew berries. Marigold's brother, Mintkit, reported that Yellowfang had been feeding her "Red Berries" for days, and she'd died slowly.
After all, Marigold couldn't see what she was eating. Marigold was told it was raspberries, but Mint only ever saw Red Berries.
Yellow fell for it, turning and accusing Runny of poisoning Marigold. He flipped the accusation, pointing out that she'd wanted them to stop attacking WindClan when they were so close to victory and was willing to get rid of the only other StarClan interpreter.
A LOT of the Clan believed him, most of them having long since lost patience with Yellowfang's protests. Some, like Deerfoot, knew right away that Runningnose was treacherous and not to be trusted. Just as she got ready to defend her honor, Brokenstar took her aggression as the cue to jump in front of his collaborator and exile Yellowfang.
Firestar's Quietus
The irony is DEFINITELY not lost on Firestar that he is going on a quest, in defiance of StarClan, with a Dark Forest cat as his closest ally. He tries not to think about the fact that Cat Hell is so fond of him.
Firestar will always do what's right, no matter what it is. I imagine they end up acting a LOT like formerly estranged brothers, in a way that is uncanny. Their humor synches up. They bicker like siblings. They are guided by a sense of deep righteousness...
I think it would be fun for them to have a sort of scene where they talk about fatherhood, in particular. Sandstorm is back home expecting kits and Firestar's still considering what he wants that to look like. Brokenstar honor-sired two children of his own, Littlecloud and Rowanclaw, but wasn't particularly involved with them.
I think Firestar would find it surreal. Wonder to himself why they never spoke while Brokenstar was alive, how this shadowy spirit was so much more of a person than the defeated prisoner and bitter tyrant he knew in life.
It's his first time really learning about the Dark Forest. It would make him wonder what else he doesn't know.
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Brokenstar's Cataclysm scene that I desperately want to write living in my head rent-free: The moment where Brokentail kills Raggedstar
Raggedstar and his deputy solemnly walking to the border to talk to Tallstar again. He thought that with the death of Heatherstar, it might let up. She was the one who started this war, but her deputy Talltail was notorious for being the softer of the two.
Brokentail had told his father he was holding onto a foolish dream, but as usual, he didn't listen.
Heatherstar's last gift to her deputy was paid in the blood of good cats. Tallstar inherited a massive territory. The Mothermouth Moors belong to WindClan now, and he's got lots of warriors to enforce that border... lots of warriors to feed with it.
No, no proud Clan Leader would give that up
The last battle ended in an utter bloodbath. Deep wounds that would scar over if they were survived, permanent injuries, hunters out of commission for moons... graves still being dug from paws too weak to break the frost.
And Brokentail's father looked so old. "Do you remember Cedarstar, my son?" He speaks with distant fondness, like they're just out chasing frogs on a warm greenleaf morning.
"...no. No I don't," as soon as he says it, he's angry at himself for humoring such a stupid conversation
"You were very, very young when he died. He was a young leader when this all started, and then I picked up the fight when he--"
"When WindClan killed him the ninth time," Brokentail's been trying to hold it together, but he's lost it in the end, as usual. Raggedstar sighs,
"I'm sick of this argument. An end is finally in sight--"
He's cut off again, this time Brokentail can't bite back the venom, "An end in sight? He's going to keep our land and graciously give us back our own rabbits! Tallstar is a black-and-white fox with the tongue of a rat and you're just going to GIVE him our--"
"Brokentail," The command is sharp enough that it makes Brokentail stop mid-sentence, but the rage is trembling in every tip of his raggedy fur, "Tallstar is offering more than he's obligated to give us. ShadowClan lost."
Brokentail doesn't stop his furious tears, "What happens when the deal's off, eh?! When Tallstar and his rogues push further south?! When his next little grubby negotiation pops up?! What'll we give him next, our territory, our blood, our kits??"
Raggedstar shakes his head, "We lost."
"No! We HAVEN'T lost, you're giving up! And if we give up then what-- what was it all for?"
He slumps into the snow, wretchedly, the last season flashing through his mind. Raggedstar dying twice, once to wounds and second to infection, Lizardstripe falling limp to the ground, her eyes still wide with horror, Mudfoot's paws twitching after his collapse, a fear on Runningnose's face so genuine it was unbecoming...
What was it all for, if they give up now?
What was it for?
Raggedstar is done with this. "You are a deputy, not a kit. Nothing's for anything. We fight for our honor, sometimes a scar is your only reward, and good cats die," he turns, "I'm ending this war for you, son. One day you'll understand that."
When the wind blows, it flattens Raggedstar's thick pelt against his thin frame. Brokentail watches him walk away from behind, his hipbones sliding under thin skin. It dawns on him how frail he's become. How tired.
He's on his last life. Runningnose kept track.
Brokentail stands up, silently.
He decides that the last kindness he can give his father is a quick death.
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Have you talked about brokenstar being a spirit before and I'm just missing it :0? I would love to hear more about that
Brokenstar is now the spirit of the tree that StarClan blasted with lightning, the manifested pain and suffering of the cats affected by SkyClan's exile! He is retribution incarnate; only sparing ShadowClan because of Dawnstar welcoming Birdflight, and Ripplestar's attempts to bring the Clan back.
Brokenstar did not remember this while he was alive-- he just absorbed the Battle Culture of the society around him, and became an extreme reflection of it.
He is a curse that was a long time coming, and if it wasn't for Bluestar and her apprentice, his reign was how the Clans were destined to end. A bloodbath of their own making, taking Might-Makes-Right to its logical conclusion.
ThunderClan helping another Clan depose a tyrant was absolutely unprecedented. ShadowClan never would have been able to overthrow Brokenstar if it wasn't for their help... because ShadowClan wasn't actually completely opposed to Brokenstar. He was quite loved and popular; him and his Medicine Cat, Runningnose.
Some major things have been changed about his actions;
The ShadowClan-WindClan war went on for generations
It was over the Mothermouth Moorland, and started by Heatherstar. It defined the beginning of the Campaign Era.
No more kitten slaughter
Dead children don't become adult warriors. Brokenstar is no longer so cruel to his Clan, and the plans provided by Runningnose aren't so shortsighted. The early apprentices were ONLY for the WindClan Massacre, and this was when Badgerpaw died.
Lizardstripe was not his adopted mother
And she wasn't abusive to her own kids either. She just suckled Brokenkit when he was young for Raggedstar; he was a single dad.
He didn't kill Raggedstar 9 times
Most of his lives were drained away while fighting. Brokenstar only takes the last one, when Raggedstar prepares to accept the terms of Tallstar's peace deal.
He DID do a lot of murder and kitten-stealing
And THIS is why he had Clanmates that opposed him. Deerfoot, Flintfang, Nightpelt, Cinderfur, Ashheart, Dawncloud. The slaughter in WindClan, the knowledge it's going to be ThunderClan next, the violation of Darkstar's Commandment to protect kittens by stealing them...
The events of his life are the subject of the redux of Yellowfang's Secret; now Brokenstar's Cataclysm. After his death, he slowly remembers what he is and replaces Sandstorm on Firestar's quest to resurrect SkyClan; this redux is called Firestar's Quietus.
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i don’t think brokenstar should’ve been named brokenkit. change that boy to oakkit and brokentail can be an honor title or whatever
I mean I don't see why that must be so, after all, Yellowfang names him Brokenkit because she was sad about having to give him up. She gives him to Raggedstar instead of Lizardstripe in this rewrite (Lizzy just providing some milk so he doesn't starve) but she could still name him "My heart is broken... kit"
But I mean I don't mind making his pre-Honor Title name something like Oakbranch, and then he gets Brokentail for battle prowess just before becoming deputy. It seems like a popular request.
Poll time,
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