The Mountain Clans' flashbacks

The flashbacks of MoonClan, at any time, any point of view.

## The Clans' creation

### Weak Tribe flashback - Moon, Adder & Snow

Moon took a rabbit from the food pile. The tribe wasn't faring very well, and there were too many cats with greencough, whitecough, breathing problems and injuries, and whatever problems could come a cat's way. There were only four healers, Moon's brother, Calm, and two she-cats cats named Amber, Ice, and Moon's aunt, Sand. (At the time healers could have children:) She had two cousins, Storm & Pine, and another brother named Wisdom. But the healers had no idea where the big patches of catnip were, and couldn't find many herbs except for cobwebs since it was leaf-bare. Moon groaned.

She had heard rumors of the tribe leaving the mountains, but she couldn't imagine what & how the tribe will live on and survive. (They didn't know about StarClan yet, so they called their ancestors the Miracle group:) Moon prayed to her Miracle ancestors that her tribe will get well and not have to leave. She had lived in the mountains all twenty moons of her life, and didn't want to see it go. She thought back to the stories she was told. 220 moons ago, eleven cats had come to the mountains to settle there. There just used to be mountain lions there, but they mixed in and made a mixed breed. Them, thought Moon.

She forced herself to eat a bite of the rabbit as food shouldn't be wasted in these dire times. She noticed one of the tribe's best hunters, Adder had come along with a few scrawny snow mice. "They were all I could find," he growled in frustration. Adder had come to Moon, his belly roaring. He had been hunting all day, trying to help the tribe at least a bit, since there wasn't a lot of food to go along. The small rabbit Moon claimed was enough to feed a kit, but it was the biggest one that wasn't being eaten.

"You can eat it," murmured Moon, nudging the rabbit his way.

Adder raised an eyebrow at her, and asked, "Are you really not hungry?" Moon merely nodded. They both spotted an intelligent cat named Snow who was also going to pick out a mouse.

Snow was known for being a jack of all trades, medicine, hunting, fighting & negotiation. She was also able to keep track of almost everything that is happening at once and was usually the cat who had an answer to a problem. Adder liked Snow more than a friend, but Moon felt envious of her two friends when they made an impact on the tribe since she never did.

"Hey Moon, hey Adder!" Snow called out in the same intellectual voice she had, except in an informal way. "Moon, why are you sad?"

"I'm not a mouse-brain to be sad," Moon replied. She was usually calm and relaxed, and very insensitive, unlike her tribe who was mostly worrying about everything. She didn't know why the tribe's problems worried her now.

Adder grinned. He was usually rebellious & crazy and loved to fight with other cats and won arguments easily, but he was incredibly experienced at fighting & hunting, making him one of the most important cats in the tribe. "So, are *we* mouse-brains to be sad?" Adder asked humorously.

"Of course not, right, Moon?" replied Snow.

Moon shrugged and asked, "Do YOU believe the tribe has to migrate?" The warmth, humor & smiles immediately vanished from Adder & Snow's faces.

"Oh, right, like there aren't any cats to hunt for the tribe!" Adder retorted. "That's going to be very unlikely, the leaf-bare will pass soon," agreed Snow disdainfully.

"Leaf-bare's only been two and a half moons, and about a third of our tribe has been claimed by its icy paws," hissed Moon sadly.

Snow stared at Moon in melancholy. They couldn't really deny the tribe was dying off from the cold, starvation & sicknesses, but what could they do? Besides, it was only another half-moon before the horror ended.

Then Snow sat down beside her friend, and reassured her, "Don't worry, Moon, the leaf-bare will gradually end, and we'll be able to find herbs & prey again. Just because we live in the mountains doesn't mean we are the only cats to suffer." Snow herself winced as she said this, her father, Fur was badly injured by a very fierce hawk, had contracted greencough from their tribemates, and was eating only half of what a normal cat should eat.

Adder's parents, Lake & Claw, were already killed by two foxes many moons back, so he didn't feel that sad about the leaf-bare. He was two moons older than Moon, one older than Snow, but he felt as helpless as a kit when he looked at his weak tribe. He ate a bite from the rabbit Moon gave him and wished that their Miracle ancestors would grant them an omen, or rather, a miracle, to him, Moon, Snow, and the Mountain tribe.

### Their End of Leaf-bare - Moon, Adder & Snow

Finally, the end of leaf-bare was coming closer and closer. Moon appreciated all this because she didn't want her tribe to suffer terribly. But there were still very sick, starving & injured cats. Most injuries came from other fierce creatures.

One of the tribe leaders named Throat (he was probably named after his terrible voice) had hated Flower, a mentally ill & autistic cat. Hail, Snow's brother, had taken a liking to her and took care of her. Flower's sister, Salmon, had done the same. Snow always felt awkward when she was around Flower since she completely ignored anything Snow did or say. She didn't know why Flower seemed to hate her.

Throat said Flower was a dormouse & a stupid fox-dung dirt-eating cat, and this made Salmon & Hail angry. Snow didn't know what she could do for Flower since she didn't like her in the first place.

Adder had been hunting some, and finally managed to bring back proper prey. He brought back hares & mice to the tribe, and immediately gulped a mouse down, his belly aching with hunger.

Moon looked over at her two friends Adder and Snow, and saw them hanging out with other cats, including an autistic cat named Flower. *Oh right, they have friends of their own, too. Obviously.* The only friends Moon had were her family and them two, so she decided to go to go to her brother, Wisdom, instead. She noticed that he was talking to one of the leaders named Throat and wondered why, until she heard Throat shouting at Wisdom in his raspy voice, which made Moon shocked. She knew Throat was a grumpy cat but he didn't usually yell at cats who did their job correctly, so she listened closer.

"Wisdom! *Can you ask your friend Hail to do his job correctly! We need cats on TRACK!*" Throat was saying, but Wisdom said nothing back but just stared at him confused.

Moon looked between them and decided to dispute this simple argument. "We will get Hail to do his job correctly, don't worry, Throat," she said for Wisdom. Then Wisdom nervously nodded. Throat nodded in approval. "Good. Because he *ALWAYS hangs around that lazy she-cat who does absolutely NOTHING but GET FREE FOOD!*" His voice was loud enough so that Adder, Snow, Flower and the other cats with them could hear and they looked shocked. Salmon and Hail were among them and they were glaring menacingly at Throat, as if they would rip out his namesake any moment.

Then Throat walked away but Moon had no emotion but confusion. She felt sorry for Flower and Hail but she didn't show that emotion on her face. Instead she asked Wisdom, "Why was he talking to you?"

Wisdom shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know! It must be because Hail is my friend. But thank goodness you came otherwise he would have chewed me out!" Then he regained his posture, but it looked a little angry like Salmon and Hail were. "But seriously, I don't know what he has against Flower. It's not like she is able to do it but she isn't doing it out of laziness. She is not able to learn what to do due to her condition but that doesn't mean she is lazy!"

Moon just nodded. "He is a tribe leader, though, so we have to deal with his opinion until he dies." Wisdom flicked his tail angrily. "Hopefully he dies soon." Moon silently hoped he didn't mean that because it would be against the Miracle ancestors' ideas. So she just shrugged and went back to her den.

### The Fox - Moon, Adder and Snow

Some time later, Snow thought about Throat near the prey pile. Flower was completely ignoring Snow as usual, and so was Salmon, but at least Hail wasn't. Completely, anyway. He told her how Throat was evil and he should die. He said he was surprised that Throat didn't die yet. Snow didn't like killing other cats for no reason, but Throat really was a negative cat. She then thought about Moon and how she dealt with him calmly. *I wish I could deal with such ferocious cats like that,* Snow thought a little sadly. She was good at negotiation, but she was not a master at it, unlike Moon. *Moon would be the perfect leader to replace Throat, despite her youth.* Snow thought if she was as good at negotiation as Moon, she could easily win Flower's heart.

Then Moon and Adder joined her. Adder looked at her in a way she couldn't figure out what it was, but it seemed positive. "What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about the delicious food we could finally bring? I promise the ones *I* caught will be the juiciest out of all of the prey in the pile!"

Moon shrugged neutrally. "So will Snow and Hail's. They are also good hunters." Adder quickly nodded and took a mouse from the pile.

Snow appreciated the compliment, but she wondered if she should tell them about her thoughts about Throat and Flower, but thought better of it. Negativity wasn't appreciated in the beginning of new-leaf.

Adder thought about Flower and Throat, too. Even if Throat did appreciate good hunters and fighters like Adder, Adder was still a cat who liked to brag and rebel against others, and Throat was one of those people he usually rebelled against. So Adder was also on Throat's hate list. And he thought Flower was being okay, and not doing anything wrong that she needed scolding for. There were much better targets for that.

Suddenly, while they were just talking and thinking, they heard a fox growl, which caught all the cats off track, especially the trio.

"What was that?" asked Moon's younger cousin, Storm. He ran up to the prey pile in great fear. Adder's sister, Clover, also came in panic.

*"It's a fox!"* Storm's brother, Pine, yowled to the entire camp. Storm and Clover were shocked and frightened for their lives.

Moon noticed Throat was walking somewhere on the border of camp. *Oh no! What if something happens to him?* Moon thought worriedly. She didn't necessarily care for him that much but she knew the cats needed to stick out for each other so more cats don't die from leaf-bare's wintry horrors, or its leftovers like the cat's sicknesses and injuries. It was the second leaf-bare she had ever experienced, but it was seemingly the coldest one that every cat in the camp experienced so far. She didn't want another one like this, ever.

Throat had noticed the growl but he didn't seem to do anything about it and kept on walking. *"THROAT!"* Moon called out at the top of her lungs. Everyone had heard Moon, including Throat, but it was too late.

A huge orange fox had bounded out of the woods and pounced on Throat. The nursing (queens) & kittens (kits) & elders were all shocked and went inside their dens the fastest they could. A young brown tom was trying to defend one family's den from the fox as it came towards it. Adder, Snow, Hail, Salmon and other good fighters immediately got up and tried to fight off the fox. Moon wondered what she could do but she saw the elder three tribe leaders ushering non-warrior cats into their dens. So she did the same.

Adder and Snow were really surprised that a fox had attacked the Tribe, but they did nothing but try to attack it and ward it off. Injuring it would also be good, too.

### StarClan - Moon & Adder

*StarClan,* thought Adder. *What is StarClan?*

He had been thinking about this while he was out hunting. Moon had told them everything about her message from their Miracle ancestors, and talked about "StarClan," and that it was their destiny. After Throat's death, they chose Moon to take his place, a wise, calm & insensitive she-cat, even though she was so young compared to the other leaders, Lime, an eighty-moon-old tom, Sea, a forty-moon-old she-cat & Sky, a sixty-moon old she-cat.

He thought it was weird for the ages to line up by twenty, but he shrugged it off. What he couldn't forget, though, was her weird speech.

Moon was happy leaf-bare passed. But she wasn't sure of her message about Clans. She decided to go to sleep. When she went to sleep however, she saw those four cats again, Light, Flutter, Amber & Bright & another cat she seemed to have been told about, but didn't know her name. "Have you ever heard of nine lives?" asked Bright.

"Miracle group?" she asked them. "StarClan," Flutter corrected. "We aren't doing good staying in our state. The hunters & fighters are only half the eligible cats that can do so. The nursing & kittens didn't have enough food this leaf-bare."

"We have figured out the new warrior code that will be implemented into your lives," said the unknown cat. Suddenly Moon knew who she was.

"Miracle?" she asked. "You're the namesake of our ancestors!"

Light said, "It will be hard adjusting to your new lives. But we will guide you. There are two more people having these dreams, with five cats each visiting them. We are all the great heroes of the famous tribe, descended from mountain lions. You see, before we came (excluding Miracle)…" Her tail flicked towards Amber, who continued.

"They had their own ways. It was almost like every lion for themselves. Mostly, the only people who were together was the mothers with the kittens, or a very young, immature couple," Amber said. "That way didn't seem to suit them very well once we came. Now it has turned into this."

Bright said, "And it has to change again, Moon. There are tons of reasons why."

They all started to fade and Moon got snapped back into reality. She woke up in her family's den, and saw her family was already hunting & fighting. Pine & Storm, her cousins, were learning to do so with the older cats.

*Will that change?* she asked herself. *Will the new life even suit us?*

### Never Die - Moon & Snow

*Change your tribe,* someone said to Snow. *Make a future. You are one of the three to do it. You can do it.*

Snow woke up being startled. She hadn't had a normal dream. She saw one of her ancestors, Snow Bird, and she had spoken to her about the Clans.

*Like Moon,* she realized.

Snow then knew she had to go to Moon about it.

When she got to Moon's den, though, she saw Adder already telling her about his dream.

"You had the dream, too?" asked Moon confusingly. Miracle ancestors had told her about two other cats having it, but she thought almost no one had known about it. In fact, her friends already knew.

"Moon! Moon! You're right! We need the Clans, desperately!" Snow said, sounding desperate in a way herself.

Moon & Adder got startled, but Snow knew this was urgent. She quickly told the three of them about her aspects of the dream.

"Moonstone?" asked Adder. "Like what?"

"Three different Clans?!" exclaimed Moon. "And we're the leaders!"

"I thought *you* knew, Moon!" Snow asked. Moon shrugged. It didn't come that clearly to her in her dream. Three Clans with them, them as the leaders? She thought it'd be one Clan. She looked down, refusing to meet anyone's eye.

"The Moonstone's a stone, I'm going to guess," said Moon tartly.

"Well, I got a dream of the ranks and everyone's duties, and how everything shall go," said Adder.

They kept talking about the three dreams, until they finally learned about what everyone got from the ancient cats.

"Well," said Moon. "Looks like we need everything to go correctly."

"But it could end in a mess," pointed out Snow. "How do we know cats will even agree with this idea? I am the problem-solver, but nothing like this has ever come to me before."

"Say it's from... the Miracle ancestors. They have tons of faith in them," answered Adder easily.

"Their faith started to waver in leaf-bare, remember?" Moon told him. "They thought the Miracle group wasn't going to do anything about it."

Suddenly, Moon's father, Vine, came to them and asked what they were doing.

"Joking around," Snow said quickly, trying to make it look like she just laughed. Moon & Adder nervously nodded, too.

Suddenly a look seemed to come into Vine's eyes. It was eerie, and he said, "Don't ever die." Then he returned to normal as if nothing ever happened.

Moon, Adder & Snow couldn't help but ominously stare at Vine.

Moon repeated, "Never die," over and over again while hunting, relaxing, & sleeping, for the rest of the day.

### The Reason Why - Moon

Moon groaned as she woke up. She has had a pounding headache for a few days so far, and it didn't seem to be subsiding. She rubbed her temple with the back of her paw, then left the den she shared with her mother, Nettle, father, Vine and brother, Wisdom.

She had a feeling the headache had to do with the Miracle ancestors, who now wanted to be named StarClan. But she couldn't be sure. A ton of cats looked at her as she emerged from her den. *Oh, right, I'm a leader,* she remembered. She got chosen due to her wisdom and insight, even though she was young.

## Life of the Three Kittypet Sisters

### The Life - Penelope, Felicia, Wendy II

Penelope, Felicia and Wendy II all were sitting comfortably on their humans' couch. They were all sisters and six moons old, too.

However, they wondered about their mother, Wendy. *Your father, Earl, has a sister named Queen, who mated with a cat that lives in the Mountains,* she had said.

They weren't sure what to make of it until now, Penelope thought the life was way too boring and told her sisters.

"Don't you think we should do something more eventful? Instead of living with humans? We can try to do something more exciting," she told them.

Felicia and Wendy II were surprised, but in a pleasant way. "I was thinking the same thing, too," said Felicia. "Me three," said Wendy II.

Penelope was glad that they agreed with her. But she wasn't sure what to do about it. "Maybe we can run away?"

Felicia thought about it. "Well, the humans did say they were going to the Mountains for a vacation. So maybe we can go there?"

Wendy II said worriedly, "What if it isn't the same Mountains as our mother told us it was?"

"Don't be pessimistic, how many Mountains can there be?" Felicia told Wendy II and shrugged. She didn't know what mountains looked like at all, so she thought that there was only one place called The Mountains.

Penelope wondered about it. "Well, one of the humans was reading a book about Mountains. They also said that we live next to a Mountain."

Wendy II blinked. She thought that the first sentence meant that there were multiple Mountains, but she didn't know about the second part. "So do you think they will go to the Mountain closest to our house?"

Penelope shrugged, followed by Felicia. "There is a high chance. I mean, we never went there before," reasoned Penelope. Felicia nodded and said, "Yeah, and the humans said that they usually hiked trails and stuff. So why wouldn't they go to the one closest to our house? It also makes sense because our aunt mated with a Mountain Cat."

Wendy II nodded, since her worries were relieved, at least for a little while. She wasn't hundred percent sure, though, and neither were her sisters. But they hoped that they would get to see that same mountain, when they ran away.

### The Escape - Penelope, Felicia, Wendy II

Finally, after a quarter-moon, they got to go on the vacation with their humans. And to their delight, it looked like a Mountain. But they weren't sure if it was the same one that Wendy I told them about.

## Day and Light's Prophecy

### The Hunters - Day Sky, Lightest Feathers

A hunter-in-training leaped onto a mouse. She caught it swiftly and she was satisfied with her kill. The hunter-in-training took a small bite from the mouse and decided that she needed to catch more. She went to Rabbit Residence, the place where there were a ton of rabbits.

## Extra-Clan Affairs

The backstories of cats who mated outside of their Clans.

### Goldenlily + Swiftclaw

#### The Meeting - Goldenpaw, Swiftclaw

"Goldenpaw!" Orangehill called out, walking up to her.

Goldenpaw looked at her mentor in confusion. "What is it, Orangehill?"

"Time for training, of course. But this time we will be doing a border patrol," said her mentor. "With SnowClan."

Goldenpaw was pretty shocked, but she simply needed. She wasn't really interested in training much, but it was fine if she trained.