Pre-Restart: The Great Freeze

Just before the Discord restart, the clans experienced the deadliest winter in their history to date, killing almost all of their warriors.

\*Important note: this event was never played out, so details may change. This is simply how one forum member- Shadow- imagines events occurring.

## Prelude

Just before winter struck the clans, each was well over forty-strong, consisting of mostly warriors. Their camps were already crowded, with dens overflowing with sleeping cats who either ended up sleeping outside of the dens or invading those of others if allowed.

Cold weather was on-and-off for a while, with single cold days followed by even more warm days. Because of this, the clans were unprepared when warm, summer-like weather turned frigid and deadly overnight and then didn't let up.

The clans were mostly at peace with each other, prey was plentiful and active, and even off-territory borders offered few issues.

### Autumn Allegiances

The most important clan roles at the time, according to the original forum canon (which may or may not be applied to the restart) were as follows:

Treeclan, led by Cinderstar, with Pineclaw acting as deputy and Swanfall as the medicine cat.

Fieldclan, led by Volestar, with Burrfrost acting as deputy and Smudgefur as the medicine cat.

Lakeclan, led by Stonestar, with Brackencloud acting as deputy and Graymist as the medicine cat.

Caveclan, led by Specklestar, with Goldenfur acting as deputy and Blackspots as the medicine cat.

Seaclan, while not a part of the main clans, was also affected by this.

They'd recently had a leader change, and were led by Dovestar. After too long, she finally appointed Cloudstrike to be her deputy. The medicine cat was Moonheart, with Fernpaw as her apprentice.

## The Deadliest Winter

At first, the winter didn't feel like winter at all. It was mostly hot days, with snow every once in a while that melted relatively quickly.

They received no warning when the weather decided to make up its mind to turn against them. It changed overnight, after a very sunny and warm day, blowing sharp winds and burying the ground beneath a foot of snow. Because of the sudden change, th clans were completely unprepared when it came to stocking up on food and, in some cases, even reinforcing some dens.

Sharp winds, sometimes freezing rain and sleet, and often times several feet of snow seemed never seemed to go away.

The winter was full of famine and illness. Cats were banned from going near nurseries except for occasional visits, medicine cat checkups, and prey delivery, as kittens had such weak immune systems. Warriors rarely ate, and apprentices became a priority to feed, just behind queens and kits (few clans had any elders, lucky for the dozens of warriors).

As food became scarcer and clans weaker, borders became battlegrounds and could almost be considered war zones. Clans fought ferociously to keep trespassers out and to expand their own borders.

While not allowed to kill, warriors still got carried away and landed one too many blows on an opponent. A small handful died in battle for such reason, but even more cats died later due to blood loss and malnutrition, even if their injuries were not deadly by themselves.

Foxes and other winter predators became equally as desperate, wandering in clan territory while cats wandered out.

The clans have survived harsh winters before, but never was another winter so harsh and relentless. Populations were at an all-time high, leaving warriors with even less food than they would have had if there were less of them.

Priority feeding order went as such: kittens and nursing queens, non-nursing queens, apprentices, warriors/deputy, leader (after all, the leader has lives to spare). Again, elders were mostly non-existent. The few there were happened to be some of the first to die. Among the warriors, there were a few unspoken rules for deciding who got more food; many cats likely didn't follow them, but every once in a while, when there was food to go around, warriors with more perceived value got to eat first. These cats included those who showed some interest in becoming queens when it was all over or those who were suspected of it (but not those who said it just for more food), the deputy or other cats taking charge and making tough decisions, and more.

### Clans' Individual Struggles

#### Fieldclan

During the winter, Fieldclan was one of the clans that suffered most. With a territory of mostly open space, almost every prey item was sheltered deep underground, hidden by thick snow. Even when emerging to eat, the high snow offered room to dig around underneath for fresh grass, instead of coming all the way out. There were some burrows reopened for airflow, but rabbit burrows- those of their most abundant prey item- were networks of tunnels, rather than just one.

Luckily, Fieldclan's prey weren't all untouchable. Field mice had less complicated and vast burrows. They had to dig through the snow when oxygen ran low, and the cats would find those holes and dig them open enough to be able to fit in to grab the mice when they eventually came out to eat. (Cats were always out in small groups, waiting.)

They also had some bushes and trees in their territory, which became some of the most important hunting areas. Bushes hid burrows untouched by the snow, while trees had seeds that could be dug up from under the snow and used to bait birds.

They tried to hunt off-territory in the forested areas, to find food and avoid fighting since they were far too weak for Caveclan and didn't want to waste energy on Treeclan if they could avoid it.

However, Treeclan were not happy with this, and there were many bloody battles between the two. Fieldclan also ran into more foxes in the off-territory forests.

#### Lakeclan

Lakeclan was another struggling clan, with their main food source trapped beneath thick ice. They had other prey, such as birds and rodents, but less practice in catching them. Rodents, like with Fieldclan, hid themselves in burrows beneath the thick snow, and rarely emerged.

#### Treeclan

Treeclan had the most rodents and birds, but the snow still concealed prey scent, making it difficult to discover burrows, especially considering the shadows that covered the forest floor. The squirrels and birds mocked them from high in the trees and called warnings for other animals. With more aerial spectators and few white-coated cats that camouflaged well in the snow, it was harder to get close whenever they did have burrows to wait near.

#### Caveclan

Caveclan was perhaps the most well-off clan. While their large sizes mean they require more food, their territory is also covered in slate and rocky soil. Most prey sheltered under boulders, which were easy enough to spot. The harder part was waiting for a rodent to show up exactly where they were supposed to and not get scared away.

In addition, they had birds up above but fewer trees for them to hide in and scream to others about predators.

Most of all, their camp was the home of bats. They rationed of course, and still made a sizable dip in the bat population while some warriors still starved, but they had food that hid in with them.

Illness was the greater limiting factor.

### Survivor's Tales

#### Skystrike

Skystrike was always someone who tried her best to focus on the present, but ended up frequently hung up on the past. Before the winter, when she thought it would be easy, she was contemplating the future, considering ideas she never did before. One idea was becoming a mother, though it was a reluctant thought she would only truly consider if she found a way around being confined to camp for so long. (If the winter wasn't so bad, she would have found herself with her very first litter, her mate acting as the forum's first den dad, taking care of the kittens while she left to hunt and patrol as normal, while still being there for and taking care of her kittens when she wasn't doing that.)

However, the winter was arguably more cruel to her than it was to any other survivor.

She began helping the clan when things first started getting bad, deciding to approach Burrfrost and offering to help him with hunting plans, as she had ideas for ways they might be able to plan and hunt more efficiently. Because of her offer to help, she somehow ended up filling in as deputy when he fell ill (Quill was inactive so Skystrike took over, but sickness is just the excuse Shadow used because they couldn't contact Quill). She filled the position easily, as though she was made for it, and likely became close with Volestar in the process.

She was naturally an introvert, closed off to all but a few cats who had taken the time to get to know her. Close cats included family-friend Runningbrook, her brother Badgerfang, nephew (adopted son) Shadowclaw, and her best friend whom she mutually cared for romantically but wouldn't quite call a mate, Lightningheart. Perhaps even Burrfrost and Volestar.

**Trigger warning: character death, trauma, gore**

Shadowclaw, her nephew that she partially raised when he was a kitten and always considered to be like a son, died when fighting a fox, like his mother and his grandparents before him. Skystrike heard him scream out in fear and agony, saw the blood that matted his fur but still *drip-drip-dripped*, saw the terror that filled his face, saw the fox lunge and tear him limb from limb as she stared helplessly- *uselessly*- frozen in shock.

Lightningheart was the only cat whom she ever opened up to emotionally, and he helped her move through a lot of internalized grief and doubt. She relied on him, just as he relied on her. They were best friends, but more. They were not mates, a term used for cats who had or tried to have kittens together, because Skystrike was never interested, but they were a couple romantically, even if they never voiced it aloud.

She lost him. Whether or not it could have been considered sudden didn't matter, as she never accepted his death either way. Never considered it a possibility. It might have been the first time the clan ever heard her scream, loud, grief-stricken, and heart-wrenching.

Runningbrook, Burrfrost, and Volestar all died off as well, and eventually Skystrike was only left with Badgerfang (an inactive character who was never used, and who is owned by an inactive person: he basically doesn't exist, but Shadow is hoping to steal him one day if they can get ahold of Broken), her brother who she cared for, but wasn't necessarily particularly close to.

To add to everything, Skystrike nearly died as well. Being a warrior, she received almost no food. Because she tried to remain active as well, she burned off a lot of calories.

Mostly, though, the worst things, to her, were the fights. She lost four close family members to foxes and dogs, and she earned her own long, deep, and noticeable facial scar from one as well. She got to watch her nephew get torn apart, and never will she be able to unsee that or look at a canid the same way again.

She came out of winter alive, by some miracle, except it feels more like a curse than it does a blessing. She was likely offered a position of leadership after Volestar's death, but turned it down. She wasn't ready for it. She did, however, accept to be deputy.

It feels like she's a ghost more often than not, and feels more alienated from her clan than ever. She isn't sure she is the best choice as the new deputy, but she's willing to give it a chance. At least it gives her something new to focus on, sometimes.