SummitClan Writing | Hunter's Woods | DNP

[Kitten-Girl-500]

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[Kitten-Girl-500]

Aspenstar is not usually a pushy cat. She likes to stay calm and try to talk things out before jumping to conclusions. Aspenstar has a bit of an issue with her compassion. If a rogue cat comes onto the territory dragging its hind leg, Aspenstar will most likely have mercy on them and bring them back to the camp for treatment from a medicine cat.

Aspenstar forms deep bonds with the cats she loves. Anyone who is under her care doesn't have to worry about being defenseless; she'll do it for them. She will try to protect those special few until her own demise.

Her quietness has led to some of her Clanmates trying to undermine her leadership, but just because she isn't pushy doesn't mean she won't defend herself. Aspenstar may not like to start battles, but she is more than happy to end them. She prefers not to lash out with claws or words, instead using her intellect to defuse situations.

However, she is also insecure about her abilities. What if not being strong leads to the downfall of her entire Clan? What if she can’t be strong enough to fight for her Clan? What if her leadership is wrecked by an usurper because she couldn’t stand up to him? These questions run around her mind daily, and it takes a lot of willpower to be able to withstand the constant battering. Aspenstar may not be physically strong, but she is very strong mentally. She isn’t afraid to do what she knows is right, even when everyone else is screaming at her to stop. 266 words

[Kitten-Girl-500]

SummitClan has their home in a small, sheltered valley. It’s out of the wind and the majority of the weather, and no natural disasters have hit yet, so they chose this spot.

A barrier of brambles surrounds the walls. It’s thick, which means that although SummitClan is well protected, they do have to worry about kits getting thorns in their paws!

Young saplings abound in the valley. SummitClan cats have been able to bend them to the ground and form little caves in the earth. The saplings will eventually grow to create great tree-dens with impenetrable walls, but for now the cats fill in the gaps with mud they find around the Cataclysm. The warriors den, apprentices den, and elders den are sapling-dens.

The nursery is situated in a huge oak. The tree has partially fallen over; it’s now at a thirty-five degree tilt. The roots are still mostly buried in the earth, and the rest have been clawed off. About ten fox-lengths up the trunk, in the midst of the branches, is a hollow. A curtain of leaves shelters it from the wind and rain, while the wood itself is smooth, perfect for small paws. Mothers have a rule of carrying the kits down the trunk until they are three moons old; by then, they are old enough to keep their balance.

The medicine den is inside the tangle of oak roots beneath the nursery. It’s been hollowed out, and now it’s a perfect space for the medicine cats to work. Herbs are tucked into nooks and crannies in the roots, and the nests around the perimeter of the den, with two medicine cat nests in the center.

The leader’s den is inside a huge boulder. The boulder is split down the middle; the crack opens into a cave further in.

[Kitten-Girl-500]

SummitClan records their time in moons. Three moons make a season, and four seasons make a year. Moons change on the new moon. SummitClan have special rituals for each cat when they’ve reached a certain age. For six-moon-olds, they get to become apprentices. For twelve-moon-olds, they go on a patrol with four warriors to the Guardian Mountains, where they receive a special power of their very own.

[Kitten-Girl-500]

Aspenstar isn’t usually negative, but she absolutely despises being injured. She’d much rather be up and helping her Clan rather than lying in a nest with cobwebs stuck in her fur. When she feels herself start to cough, Aspenstar immediately tries to cover it up and pretend she’s fine for as long as she can. This method has its flaws, though; Aspenstar once covered up a case of greencough so long that by the time the medicine cats found out, she was too far gone. When she’s injured, the medicine cats have to drag her into the den for treatment, or else she’ll try to manage with her injury as is.

[Kitten-Girl-500]

SummitClan abides by a set of rules they call StarClan’s Code. These laws are infallible, and if broken they have severe consequences.

1. Cats shall not prey on the innocent; instead, they will protect them. This law came about as the result of Bristlestar, a nasty leader who ended up founding the Clan. Bristlestar insisted that every cat in the territory be killed, no matter who they were. This was to ensure that no rogues dared to compete with SummitClan. Of course, there were warriors that disagreed with Bristlestar’s cruelty, but they didn’t speak up for fear of being executed like the rogues. StarClan saw the grievance and decided that they should do something about it, so they appeared to Frostflake, the first SummitClan medicine cat, and told him about the issue. Frostflake agreed to obey them and told Bristlestar of his wrongdoing. Bristlestar refused to repent, and instead left his leadership at foot of his Clan while he turned and fled. He ran from the new territory he had just fought to gain and shot back scathing remarks directed at the stars above.

2. A true warrior doesn’t kill unless necessary. StarClan was hoping they wouldn’t have to make this a law, and that the Clan cats would use common sense, but lo and behold, when rogues invaded SummitClan cats were killing left and right. StarClan put an end to the bloodshed by appearing to the gathered cats and telling them of their wrongdoing. Every cat agreed to let the rogues leave in peace after that.

3. A cat will respect their superiors. A young apprentice, Fawnpaw, decided that she was going to blatantly disobey her mentor by traveling to the Hanging Cave before she was made a warrior. As she was traveling, a blizzard hit. Fawnpaw tried to stand firm against the storm, but she was blown away into a drift and couldn’t escape.

4. Medicine cats do not fight. In the earliest days of SummitClan, there was only one medicine cat: Brackenheart. Brackenheart didn’t care much for training an apprentice; why should he, when he would be around for a long time yet? Unfortunately, at that time medicine cats fought just like any other warrior, and during a battle with a gang of vicious rogues, Brackenpatch fell under their paws. All the warriors were shocked. What would they do now that Brackenpatch was gone? Who would heal their wounds? StarClan revealed themselves to a kit named Wavekit. They guided him through his apprenticeship and gave him all the knowledge he would need to serve his Clan.

5. Only medicine cats set paw on the Island. When SummitClan was first founded, the Island was the opposite of sacred. Cats went there to hunt every day, and the Island became less and less the sacred place it was supposed to be. Finally, when a warrior caught prey in the pool itself, StarClan knew they had to draw the line. They proclaimed the the Island was to be a sacred place, and that no warrior would set paw on it again.

6. A leader will be respected. Driftstar, the second leader of SummitClan, was a cowardly warrior. He stayed at the edge of the battle, never engaging like a true leader. However, after a particular skirmish, he shaped up. Of course, his warriors were just about done with him at that point, and by the time that Driftstar tried to make decisions, they revolted. StarClan stepped in and showed the rest of the Clan that Driftstar had shaped up, and that they shouldn’t lose faith in their leader. The Clan repented and promised that they would respect Driftstar from now on.

[Kitten-Girl-500]

SummitClan cats aren’t built any different than normal cats. They have the usual mix of long and short fur, lanky and broad builds, weak and strong cats.

However, they have something no other cats dream of possessing: magical powers. Cats are born normal. When a cat becomes a warrior, they go to the Hanging Cave to receive their power from StarClan. Powers can range anywhere from elemental to mental. Most cats get an elemental power, like controlling the wind or being able to make plants grow. Rarer powers are telekinesis and superspeed. However, the rarest powers of all are the mental ones. One out of a hundred cats are blessed with mental powers. Some cats are able to see into others’ memories; others are able to read thoughts. The most powerful cats are those that can control others’ minds. One in a thousand cats have mind control powers. These cats can bend the will of others to match their own. When corrupted, these cats are powerful adversaries. It takes strong-minded cats to stand up to them.

These powers extend a cat’s lifespan beyond what most consider normal. A SummitClan warrior at thirty seasons looks like a regular cat at ten seasons.

[Kitten-Girl-500]

Long ago, at the beginning of SummitClan’s history, there was a vicious leader named Bristlestar at the head of the Clan. Bristlestar was a smoky gray tom with mean yellow eyes. He was like a wild cat, with no moral compass whatsoever.
SummitClan used to live in a small, sheltered valley, but soon they grew to be way too many cats to fit the territory. So Bristlestar decided to take his Clan to the disaster-stricken territory called the Cataclysm. He figured it would be unoccupied, but lo and behold, the Cataclysm was populated to the brim with other cats.
Bristlestar told his warriors to do what they must to secure the territory. They were shocked that Bristlestar would propose such a thing, but the smoky gray tom was firm in his standing.
SummitClan started in. They were met by rogues and loners who were shocked about being forced out of their homes. A few left immediately, but most of them stayed and fought for their places in the Cataclysm. Bristlestar soon had the deaths of many rogues on his paws, but he didn’t care. All that mattered to him was that his Clan had a place of their own that would support them for long after he was gone.