#more meant to be dovepaw/kit here but. whatever | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sparky-is-spiders · 4 years

Text

More PoT/OotS AU Stuff (The Hollyleaf Favoritism AU)

I’m hereby renaming this AU the “Hollyleaf Favoritism AU”, because that’s what it is now (it wasn’t intentional I promise).

Today I’ma talk about Ivypool, Dovewing (who is Dovedream now because of her powers fight me), Ashfur, Squirrelflight’s lie, and a little bit about Hollyleaf/storm and Lionblaze’s apprenticeships.

Link to Part 1 here

First off, Dovedream!

Dovedream: Dovedream has always had an uncanny ability to understand the emotions of other cats. She’s always been sure of the love her mother and sister hold for her. It’s passed off as a strong sense of empathy, although Firestar has his suspicions that it might be more.

From a young age, Dovekit knew that there was a chance that she would have powers and a place in an important prophecy. However, she was too young to understand what that meant, and nobody was willing to talk openly about it in case they ended up upsetting Lionblaze.

Dovekit can’t read minds, but she gets powerful waves of emotions from the cats around her. She can even get sensations and images, if they’re strong enough. She hates going into the medicine den. She visited it when she was two moons old when she caught a cold, and she was miserable the whole time. Jayfeather’s death visions of the Dark Forest battle had started at around this time, and he was radiating so many negative emotions that she could practically taste them. When she slept, she sometimes slipped into his dreams, and StarClan cats would have to pull her out. The horrors of war and gore and death would be too much for this young cat. She develops a rapport with Snowfur in particular, and the two spend hours talking, playing, and exploring StarClan. When she’s finally well enough to return to the nursury, the visits with Snowfur continue. She also starts to avoid the medicine den and Jayfeather in particular like the plague.

When the time comes for her to be an apprentice, Firestar gives her to Lionblaze. The young warrior is becoming isolated from his clan with the reveal of his parentage and loss of his sister. It’s also becoming more and more obvious that he has no powers, although he’s still in denial. Firestar hopes that young Dovepaw will give Lionblaze new purpose, that she will keep Lionblaze from seperating himself from the whole clan, and that she will remind him that he doesn’t need powers to serve his clan.

It works out, at first. Lionblaze bonds with Dovepaw and with Cinderheart, who is mentoring Ivypaw. It all changes one night, however, when Dovepaw accidently slips into Lionblaze’s dreams. He’s in the middle of a nightmare, and she tries to guide him out of it. He can see her, but she can’t reach him enough to pull him out, and she eventually wakes up at dawn more exhausted then ever. She asks him about it on the dawn patrol, and she feels wave after wave of saddness and fury and shame and, underneath it all, the profound lonliness that she can always sense but never get a full grasp on until now. Lionblaze returns to ThunderClan camp with Dovepaw trailing awkwardly behind. There’s no question who the third cat is, and it isn’t Lionblaze.

After this, Lionblaze tries, he really does, but he fails. He’s grappling with too much, and Cinderheart becomes the unofficial mentor for Dovepaw. To try and make up for his failings, Lionblaze convinces Firestar to let Dovepaw attend her first gathering, although he himself is left behind.

At the gathering, she meets a handsome and charismatic apprentice called Tigerpaw (Tigerheart and his sibs have been de-aged for the sake of the rewrite). Dovepaw and Tigerpaw hit it off immeadiatly. She’s a little attracted to him, but she is very attracted to the idea of him. This ShadowClan apprentice doesn’t care about her powers, and she can feel that he’s at least a little interested. They hit it off and begin a forbidden relationship. They don’t bother with meeting up in secret, as Dovepaw can always visit him in his dreams.

Dovepaw’s other respite from the burden of being a prophecy cat and her strained relationship with her sister and mentor is StarClan. Snowfur still visits her from time to time, and the two hang out and have fun. Her dream meetings with Snowfur and Tigerpaw are the only times that she feels that she is free to be herself.

Dovepaw’s relationship with Ivypool isn’t great, but it’s alright. Because Dovepaw is often being trained more by Cinderheart than by Lionblaze, Dovepaw and Ivypaw are able to spend a lot of time together, and they have roughly equal skill levels (Dovepaw is slightly better at hunting, but Ivypaw is the better fighter) so Ivypaw only has Dovepaw’s powers and place in the prophecy to be jealous of. Still, they bicker a lot and aren’t as close as they were during kithood. Dovepaw begins to sense something... off. Ivypaw is grumpier than usual, and her fighting skill is improving by leaps and bounds. Dovepaw is worried, but her sister won’t tell her anything. She would visit Ivypaw’s dreams to try and figure out what was going on, but Ivypaw had asked her to never, ever do that, and Dovepaw wouldn’t dare intrude on somebody’s privacy like that without their consent (she ended up in Jayfeather and Lionblaze’s dreams by accident, not on purpose)

Eventually, something seems to snap Lionblaze out of his funk. He was visiting with the Dark Forest, and had been for quite some time. He thought that training with Thistleclaw wouldn’t be that bad, but then he saw Ivypaw being involved in a brutal fight that could easily end in her death. He was furious, yelling at Thistleclaw for 50 hours straight for endangering a young apprentice like this. When he hears that it’s a fight to the death (or at least to the serious, life-long injury), he punches Thistleclaw in the face and skedaddles. And he tells Firestar everything.

Now Dovepaw knows what’s wrong with her sister and she’s hugely upset. She has a long, tearful conversation with Ivypaw that essentially boils down to: ‘You’re my sister and I love you and you are NOT allowed to die’. Their relationship is still shaky, but it’s much better now. Ivypaw is forbidden from visiting with the Dark Forest, as is Lionblaze. Firestar calls a clan meeting to find out how many cats are in the Dark Forest. The clan comes to a concensus: the only cat allowed to stay in the Dark Forest is Thornclaw, a powerful and loyal senior warrior who can report everything that’s going on in there as long as he’s careful and smart about it. The number of cats revealed to be meeting with Dark Forest cats is concerning, and Firestar is certain that they’re up to something. He warns all the clans about it at the next gathering, but none of them listen (surely it’s just a ThunderClan problem. We’ll all be fine.)

Dovepaw was only a kit when Hollyleaf returned to the clans and joined WindClan, so although she’s heard the stories, she’s never met her fellow prophecy cat. Dovepaw hopes that she’s better than Jayfeather, who realized Dovepaw was in the prophecy before Dovepaw even told him (prophetic dreams and visions) and who doesn’t seem to care about anything anymore. Hollyleaf (now Hollystorm) was a mystery until the day that she shows up in camp with the WindClan deputy, demanding to meet with Firestar. Dovepaw, as a prophecy cat, attends the meeting, although she can’t contribute very much apart from telling everybody that StarClan is pretty sure that something is up but they have no idea what’s going on. Still, Hollystorm’s determination and no-nonsense attitude, as well as her story intrigues Dovepaw, and she follows Hollystorm around like a lost puppy, desperate to talk to the only cat who can truly relate to her struggles.

Hollystorm would like to talk to Dovepaw at some point, but she has more important things to worry about. Like Jayfeather! Who was not present at the meeting at all. Dovepaw can feel the emotions blasting out of the medicine den during Hollystorm’s visit. Ivypaw sneaks her sister out of the camp until it all blows over, and they return to listen to what Jayfeather has to say.

Dovepaw is shocked by all the horrors he must’ve been expiriencing day in and day out. She realizes that he must have been so miserable, and she starts to feel sympathy for him. All her life, she believed that he was just a bitter angry foxheart, but he’s not. Dovepaw feels a little ashamed for the way that she viewed him before.

Nobody is surprised when Firestar decides that it’s time for an emergency gathering. Everybody is very surprised when they hear about the Dark Forest. Everybody has a collective meltdown when they hear about the WindClan civil war (the second one). It is time to unite, with Dovepaw set as the prime messenger between the clans.

The next day, Ivypaw and Dovepaw get their warrior assessments. As the sun sets, they become Ivypool and Dovedream, full warriors of ThunderClan.

Dovedream is a little self-absorbed. It’s not her fault, but it is true. She’s used to feeling the love her parents hold for her, the interest that Tigerheart feels whenever they’re together, and the respect other ThunderClanners have for her as a prophecy cat. It’s made her a little arrogant. And now she’s a warrior with an important duty! She checks in with the other leaders every evening and reports whatever they say to Firestar himself.

It puts a strain on her relationship with Tigerpaw. He’s still an apprentice (even though he’s older than her) and he’s a little jealous. He tries not to be, but it’s so hard! Dovedream has powers and a prophecy all about her and a warrior name even though he’s older than her. Of course he’s jealous.

After sporadic attacks from WindClan over the next two moons, the clans plan the WindClan ambush. Dovedream is left behind, deemed to be too valuable to risk. This makes her feel a little useless and left out. An important thing is happening and she’s not invited and it is VERY annoying. But then she feels a sharp spike of distress from the medicine den. She knows that Jayfeather must be sleeping, so while the warriors prepare to leave for the battle (it’s late evening and they want to get to the WindClan border at around moonhigh), Dovedream goes to sleep and visits Jayfeather’s dreams. She hates the idea, but she wants to make sure that he is okay, and she needs to check on him.

In his dream, he’s standing in the WindClan camp, surrounded by the bodies of his clanmates. Among the dead are Firestar, Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Hollystorm, and Lionblaze. Dovedream is shocked and horrified when she sees Ivypool’s lifeless corpse. She leads Jayfeather out of the WindClan camp and over to the peaceful lake and asks him about his dream. He’s angry that she just strolled in without his say-so, until she brings up the WindClan ambush. Then he realizes what he was dreaming about and wakes up. Dovedream awakens to see Jayfeather racing across camp (the other warriors have already left) and she follows him. Dovedream realizes that what Jayfeather saw must be the result of the ambush and is desperate to help him. She can’t let Ivypool die!

They get to the WindClan camp and shout out a warning just as the battle starts and WindClan attacks. Dovedream is about to rush over to Ivypool when she sees a cat leaping at Jayfeather. She realizes that Jayfeather, a medicine cat with minimal battle training, needs her more than Ivypool, who is Very Good at fighting. She sticks with Jayfeather as they battle their way over to Firestar, warning him of Jayfeather’s vision. He calls for ThunderClan to retreat, and the outnumbered clans do the same. Many non-Windclanners have been injured or killed, but it isn’t the bloodbath that Jayfeather foresaw.

With the other clans weakened, they collectivly decide that the best course of action is to group together in a single, easily defendible place. The ThunderClan camp, being a giant hole with few entrances and exits, is chosen. Dovedream helps with shoring up the defences, but she is no longer allowed on patrols just in case WindClan attacks her. She’s very annoyed by this, but she appreciates the chance to spend time with the newly-named Tigerheart.

At around this time Dovedream really starts to understand some stuff. Her power-less, prophecy-less clanmates are out there, risking their lives every day to patrol the borders and feed their clanmates. These cats don’t have any of the things that Dovedream believes make her special, but they’re special anyway, and they’re just as valuable as she is. Her ego is knocked down a peg. Watching Jayfeather’s struggles with his powers and Hollystorm’s struggle to fit in to a place that isn’t really her home anymore and Lionblaze’s struggle to feel that he’s worth anything opens her up to the problems of other cats. She becomes less self-absorbed and less arrogant. She demands to be allowed to go out and hunt. She’s tired of sitting still while everybody else contributes. She may be part of a prophecy, but that doesn’t mean that she can just sit around all day. She isn’t allowed near the WindClan border, but she is allowed to hunt within certain areas. She tries to bring back as much prey as she can and become part of the team effort to save the clans. During this time, she bonds with many background characters from all the clans.

During the battle, she uses her empath powers to find which cats are in the most danger and help them. When Hollystorm is injured, she feels a wave of fear so strong it nearly knocks her off her paws. She rushes over to the medicine den and takes Hollystorm and Lionblaze’s place to gaurd it. Ivypool and Tigerheart join her, and the three fight like lions against WindClan and the Dark Forest.

When the battle is over, Dovedream is hit with so many feelings from so many cats that it overwhelms her. She is exhausted and pretty much keels over as soon as Bramblestar appoints Squirrelflight as his deputy. She regretfully watches the other clans go, promising Tigerheart that she’ll continue to visit him in his dreams.

Ivypool: As a kit, Ivykit was very close with her sister and not really close to anyone else. The two were inseperable, and they did everything together. The week that Dovekit spent in the nursery was the worst week of Ivykit’s short life. When they were both made into apprentices, they were so excited to train and learn together.

Things were going pretty well at first. However, Dovepaw was significantly more outgoing than her younger sister, and she made friends with the other apprentices. Where Ivypaw enjoyed training and talking one-on-one with Dovepaw, she disliked having to have conversations with more than one cat, and she began to feel lonely. The two began to get into little arguements and spats, and they drifted apart.

When it was revealed that Dovepaw had powers, everyone was ecstatic. Well, almost everyone. Lionblaze was bitter even though he tried not to show it, and Ivypaw felt alone. Her sister had new friends and an important job and she was just so special. Ivypaw was afraid that her sister would leave her for bigger and better things. That’s when the Dark Forest drew her in.

The first cat she met was Tigerstar. Ivypaw may be many things (kinda whiny and clingy, among other things), but she wasn’t a moron. Her grandmother had told her the story about the dogs he sent to destroy ThunderClan and all the murders he commited and she wasn’t going to accept anything he offered her! It was so lucky that Thistleclaw saved her, wasn’t it? (IMPORTANT NOTE: In this AU, Spottedleaf’s Heart is NOT CANON. Thistleclaw and Ivypaw show NO interest in each other, because that would honestly be horrifying.)

Thistleclaw starts training her, claiming that he’s only in the Dark Forest because Bluestar chased him out of StarClan (she didn’t, he’s just lying). Ivypaw comes to see Thistleclaw as a big brother/mentor figure. He teaches her how to fight, and she starts improving by leaps and bounds. He becomes her only friend.

Thistleclaw isn’t really trying to help her, of course. He just wants to turn her against the prophecy cats. She’s a talented fighter for her age, and he would love to have her on the side of the Dark Forest. It isn’t too hard, either. He convinces her that Hollystorm is a traitor to ThunderClan (this really turns her against half-clan relationships), that Jayfeather is an dirt bag with no redeeming qualities, and that Dovepaw is too wrapped up in herself and the prophecy and her new friends to care about Ivypaw any more. It works.

Ivypaw and Dovepaw barely get along, and she refuses to tell Dovepaw what’s going on. Terrified that Dovepaw might find out about her Dark Forest visits (although she doesn’t know why that scares her so much), she demands that Dovepaw never visit her dreams, ever. She’s a little surprised when Dovepaw does as Ivypaw asks her to do.

Blossompaw and Ivypaw sometimes talk, and Ivypaw nurses a bit of a crush on the older apprentice, but it doesnt really go anywhere, especially when Ivypaw starts seeing Thistleclaw. Thistleclaw is her new friend and she doesn’t need anyone else. Blossompaw and Ivypaw sometimes talk and train together, but that’s about as far as it goes.

Ivypaw gets along with Lionblaze better than her own mentor, Cinderheart. They’ve both been picked over for the prophecy that their siblings are in, and they both enjoy battle training more than either Cinderheart or Dovepaw do.

Because of how isolated she feels, Ivypaw becomes a bit of a lone wolf. She hates working with others or asking for help. In her eyes, if she can’t do whatever it is she’s trying to do, she either needs to toughen up or give up, and asking for help is weak. It’s an obviosly unhealthy attitude that Thistleclaw encourages. It makes her more antagonistic to cats who would help her and less receptive to the problems of others. It also makes her an isolationist who thinks that the clans should deal with their own problems, which is exactly the attitude the Dark Forest cats are trying to promote.

It all comes to a head a few moons later, when Thistleclaw decides that it’s time to get Lionblaze and Ivypaw to train together. Another Dark Forest cat named Silverhawk is training with Ivypaw, but it’s going badly. Ivypaw may be a good fighter, but she’s an apprentice, and Silverhawk is really strong. She’s getting her tail kicked, and if this fight goes on much longer she might be seriously injured or even killed. Lionblaze sees Ivypaw and is furious that Thistleclaw would dare put a young apprentice in this much danger. He fights Thistleclaw and convinces Ivypaw to come with him. They run through the Dark Forest, away from Thistleclaw and the other cats until they wake up, exhausted.

Ivypaw feels betrayed. Thistleclaw was her friend, and yet he refused to save her from the dangerous situation that she was in. Besides, she trusts Lionblaze. He may not be her friend, but he feels more like her mentor than Cinderheart does, sometimes. If Lionblaze says that this is bad, he may have a point. She starts to second-guess Thistleclaw’s motives as Lionblaze comes to fetch her to talk to Firestar.

The Firestar conversation is a little awkward, especially when Brambleclaw confesses to meeting with Tigerstar in the Dark Forest all those moons ago. Firestar decides that something is up and calls a clan meeting. Apparently, a LOT of cats have recieved Dark Forest training. Most ThunderClanners have been meeting with Thistleclaw and sometimes Silverhawk, but a few of the younger cats apparently thought that training with Tigerstar was a good idea. Every cat confesses that a Dark Forest cat had approached them at some point, generally when they were feeling alone and vunerable.

Clearly, something is up. At the next gathering, Firestar asks the other clans about the Dark Forest, but nobody claims to be meeting with any Dark Forest cats (leaders, deputies, and medicine cats are not approached, and let’s be real here, nobody is gonna tell Firestar about how some dead cats are teaching them how to fight. He’s so meddlesome! The Dark Forest cats seem friendly enough, surely everything is fine). Firestar leaves without telling the other clans the extent of the Dark Forest problem in ThunderClan (because with Onestar in the picture and ShadowClan at their border, that would NOT go well).

Not much happens for the next moon or so. Dark Forest visits are forbidden for everybody except Thornclaw (who volunteered to spy (it had to be a strong senior warrior and it couldn’t be Lionblaze after the way he exploded at Thistleclaw)) and life goes on. And then, in the middle of the night, Hollystorm and Ashfoot show up. They refuse to leave until Firestar meets with them, and they report everything that’s going on with the Dark Forest in WindClan. Ivypaw is mostly there for moral support and to briefly talk about her time in the Dark Forest (Thornclaw is invited to join the discussion later, when he wakes up).

Ivypaw isn’t really there for the Hollystorm and Jayfeather mega-showdown, but she does hear about all the horrible things Jayfeather has been seeing. Suddenly, it’s a lot harder for Ivypaw to see Jayfeather as some lazy jerk who doesn’t care about his clanmates, and although she still considers Hollystorm to be a clan-abandoning traitor, she kinda respects the WindClan warrior for her convictions (even if she is loyal to the wrong clan). But hey, if she was wrong about Jayfeather and kinda maybe sorta a little wrong about Hollystorm, what did she get wrong about Dovepaw?

The two make up after Dovepaw has that freak out about Ivypaw being in the Dark Forest. Their bond is shaky, and they have a lot of issues to get past, but they’re closer now than they have been in moons, which is nice.

There’ll be time to sort that out later, because everything has been thrown into chaos. It’s emergency gathering time! Everybody is waiting for WindClan but only about 6 WindClanners bother to show up and none of them are Onestar (who wants to solve this problem on his own and prove that he doesn’t need Firestar). Everybody is like ‘????’ and then Ashfoot climbs onto the leader tree and goes “So Onestar tried to exile, like, half of WindClan and then Breezepelt exiled him and also us.” And everybody freaks out.

So the gathering happens and the clans decide to team up to stop this threat. Dovepaw is assigned to be a messenger between the three remaining clans while the WindClan exiles hang out in ThunderClan. The day after the gathering, Cinderheart and Lionblaze spring a surprise warrior assessment on their young apprentices and the become Ivypool and Dovedream.

Ivypool goes on multiple patrols and gets into fights with WindClan cats. She ends up defending Blossomfall during these attacks. Blossomfall is impressed with Ivypool’s murder skills and her beautiful blue eyes... and asks Ivypool to train with her. Que the mutual pining!

Ivypool is invited on the WindClan ambush and she isn’t too happy about the retreat. When she hears from Dovedream that she was one of the dead cats she changes her mind.

Ivypool goes on most of the hunting patrols after the clans all move to the ThunderClan camp. Some patrols raid WindClan territory (which now consists of most of the lake territories) also include her due to her fighting capabilities.

At around this time, she starts making and strengthening her conections with other cats in ThunderClan. Most notably: Dovedream, Lionblaze, Cloudtail (they get along super well, actually), Brightheart, Blossomfall, and Dustpelt (they hang out while they work on building up the dens and toughening up ThunderClan’s defenses. They work together to build some really neat/strong defenses, like a bramble maze).

During the final battle she fights alongside Blossomfall. When Blossomfall is injured Ivypool drags her to the medicine den. She then fights alongside Tigerheart and Dovedream to defend it.

When the battle ends, Ivypool goes straight (or NOT straight) to Blossomfall to essentially ask her out. Blossomfall says yes!

Working together with the other clans abates some of Ivypool’s xenophobia. It also forces her to drop her go-it-alone attitude. Sometimes she’s gonna need help, and sometimes she’s gonna have to work with others, and that’s okay.

Ashfur: Ashfur is a bitter dirtbag and that is not gonna change. He’s still pissed with Squirrelflight for rejecting him. The fire scene doesn’t happen because Jayfeather predicts the fire and ThunderClan is able to evacuate the camp. Ashfur is a jerk to Squirrelflight and anybody who is related to her. He tries to kill Brambleclaw during the WindClan ambush (in this AU, they stay mates) until Squirrelflight drags him away. He is killed as the clans attempt to retreat.

Squirrelflight and the Lie: Squirrelflight covers for Leafpool. Jayfeather sees their kithood and several signs about their true parentage, but it takes him a long time to realize what it means because of how many visions he gets swamped with and how little he is able to understand them. He tells his siblings, they confront Squirrelflight, she tells them what happened. Hollyleaf reveals everything at a gathering, and then flees to the Tribe.

Brambleclaw is angry and hurt and confused, but he does choose Squirrelflight. He defends her from the vitreol the other cats hurl at her because he does still love her, even though he’s still hurting from the lie. He has a sibling who he loves, he understands. (I know that this isn’t what happens in canon, but I want a healthy, supportive relationship where the two actually talk through their issues and do their best to help each other, so that’s what you’re getting. It’s my AU and I can do what I want.)

Now then, some mentoring factoids!

Lionpaw: Now, Firestar may be dumb, but he ain’t stupid. He isn’t gonna give Lionpaw to Squirrelflight’s jealous bitter ex. No. Lionpaw is part of a prophecy. He needs a strong, smart, dependable senior warrior who can train him up right and knock his ego down a peg. When Firestar is deciding who will mentor Lionpaw, only one cat comes to mind: Sandstorm.

Sandstorm is the perfect mentor for Lionpaw. She’s a skilled warrior who will support Lionpaw, but she isn’t particularly itimidated or impressed with his prophecyness. She deflates his ego without being mean or cruel, and she helps him develop into a capable and respected warrior. The two are super close, and she helps to knock some sense into him after the reveal of Dovepaw’s powers.

Hollypaw: Hollypaw is a prophecy cat with special powers that are obvious from kithood. Firestar decides to mentor her himself. After all, who better to teach the future savior of the clan than a clan leader? (Well, aside from Sandstorm.) This is where most of Hollypaw’s obsession with the Warrior Code and “doing the right thing, no matter what” comes from. Firestar is busy, so he doesn’t always get to spend as much time mentoring her as he would like, but he does his best to make time for her. He and Sandstorm often end up training their apprentices together, and he’s happy for a chance to spend some extra time with his mate. Young Hollypaw sometimes struggles with hunting and fighting in the forest, and Firestar worries that he’s not doing enough to help her, but she passes her warrior assessment with Lionpaw, so he thinks he did a good job.

When she goes to WindClan and becomes Hollystorm, she doesn’t really get a mentor. Ashfoot is wary about her, but decides that Onestar made his choice and that she should go along with that choice. She takes Hollystorm under her wing and teaches her about how to hunt and fight on the moor when she has the time. Hollystorm is a natural at it. During one of these sessions, Hollystorm confesses her real reason for coming to WindClan, which is what earns her Ashfoot’s respect and brings the two closer together.

Alright. That’s all I got for now. Next up: What happens with Onestar? Breezepelt, more about the relationship between the three and both sets of parents, the reason StarClan struggles to understand what is happening in the Dark Forest, and the Dark Forest cat’s evil plan!

#warriors #warrior cats au #the hollyleaf favoritism au #Po3 #OotS #Dovewing #Ivypool #Hollyleaf #Jayfeather #Lionblaze #Thistleclaw #Blossomfall #Squirrelflight #Brambleclaw #Ashfur #Firestar #Sandstorm #the Dark Forest #StarClan

16 notes · View notes