CraterClan {Archive -- CaC}

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res -- just in case

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Res res

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The cat looked around as it observed the crater, the thick fur of the feline keeping it warm from the cool Leaf-fall breeze. Lifting it's head the cat sniffed the cool wind, it almost smelled like home, this felt right to the cat. Sitting in a small cave the animal took a deep breath, this was it. It seemed like perfect, dens were set in just the right places. This was where the cat was making its clan. This was home.

Craterclan was founded!

"This is perfect," mewed Minnowstar in delight. "Honestly, I'm surprised no other cat has found this place already!" he chuckled to himself. After a moon's work of progress, he'd gotten some work done on his new clan. "Now," Minnow said,

"All we need are cats."

Minnow was sure that nobody would attack or hunt in his territory, for there was barely anything to take. He set off on his journey, luckily not being too far from home, and travelled to the moonpool.

{Minnowstar asks StarClan for a warrior}

[kirkwood gaps]

Upon waking up at the moonpool Minnowstar would find himself looking around, there wasn't a cat insight. Although he knew he had to be patient and wait because these things took time, you couldn't rush Starclan.
Time went by, well it seemed to drag by because it was taking forever. A small bit of annoyance shifted through the new leader and his tail tapped the ground as he waited, reminding himself that patient was key although he did feel that Skullclan was teasing him. A leaf came and smacked the tom in the face, blocking his vision for only a couple seconds. When he got the leaf off his face and opened his eyes he would be face to face with a very bright orange cat. Minnowstar jumped to his feet in surprise. "Hello there." The cat said to him and Minnowstar stepped back. "Starclan sent me, sorry for the wait. I got lost and Starclan doesn't give very good directions." The cat chuckled a little and looked at the leader. "I hope you're the cat I am looking for...are you?"

Starclan sent you a warrior!

It was already Leaf-Bare, and Minnowstar wasn't prepared. He hadn't hunted, the dens were barely set up, and their main water source, the Water Crater, was already freezing up. He knew what he had to do, and he had asked Heathersway, previously known as Custard, for her opinion. She had agreed, and so Minnow set off to the Moonpool. He knew that it wasn't far, for he didn't have to travel very long last time, but the risks of Leaf-Bare seemed dangerous.

Meanwhile, Heathersway had been set the task of hunting. They had barely any time to gather food before Leaf-Bare, and Minnowstar knew that might've been a bad mistake. Heather was told not to travel too far from camp, but if no prey is found, journey further. She knew that if they couldn't find anything, she would have to travel back to camp. Heathersway was determined, though, and would try to explore every nook and cranny until she has found food. She didn't want to starve, and she knew that if she went hunting again, the chances of getting an illness would rise.

That, is why Minnowstar had set off to the Moonpool. Having a medicine cat in the clan would be a very smart idea, and he knew that other new clans were probably doing the same. He had tried to drink some of the Crater water so he could be refreshed and ready to go, but the liquid was so cold and almost hard, he couldn't drink much.

{Minnowstar asks StarClan for a medicine cat}
{Heathersway goes hunting}

[kirkwood gaps]

The tabby grinned. "Oh you're finally awake!" Its tail flicked and it stood with a laugh. "Well sleepy head we must be quick, I need some herbs before we go back to camp and waiting here all day will not solve anybodies problems." The stranger explained as they walked passed Minnowstar walking through the snow and looking over its shoulder. "Well, come on now."

(Starclan sent you a medicine cat. you can pick your five herbs here)

Heathersway smiled at the small catch she had managed to grab on this fine snowy morning. She was heading back when she saw another mouse as it popped it's head out of it home and started running across the snow covered clearing. Heathersway didn't bother stalking this time as she knew it could run into the burrow as fast as it came. She was successful with this approach as she soon had it in her jaws. Though she knew this couldn't work for every piece of prey.

(Heathersway catches two mice)

Minnowstar nodded, calmly. On the inside, though, he was thrilled. His clan was growing every moon, and he felt happy that it was doing so well.
'Thank you, StarClan, for all of these wonderful cats.' He thought to himself.
"Keep up, sheep-bones! I'll be there before you even get to where I'm standing!" The striped she-cat giggled, standing near the moonpool's exit. Minnowstar could already tell that this cat was very excitable, and he was curious to see how good of a medicine cat she was. He looked up into the molly's eyes, they were a piercing orange, so bright he couldn't look away. "What did I just tell you? We mustn't just dilly-dally all day!" Minnow shook his head, waking from his day-dream.
"Oh- yes, alright," He climbed the rocky cave towards the silhouette of the medicine cat. "Wait — I forgot to ask — what's your name?"

One journey later...

Throughout the walk back to the camp, Minnowstar and the molly chatted. They talked about the future of the clan, herbs and other miscellaneous subjects. However, Minnow had learnt her name and a bit about her. She said her name was Tigertail, and she used to be in a clan until a rogue assassin killed the leader and the deputy, resulting in chaos. Tigertail had escaped, though, and was sent the message from StarClan that a new clan had awaited her — CraterClan.

When they got back, Heathersway was sleeping on the ice covering the Water Crater. Tigertail started to meow,
"That's dangerous, you kno-"
"I know," Heathersway interrupted, opening one of her eyelids to look at the new she-cat. "..you're new the medicine-cat, I presume?"
"Yes, I am!" Tigertail mewed, smiling.
"Ugh," Heathersway thought as she rolled her eyes. She didn't feel the best today, and this new cat's overly cheery personality wasn't helping. Minnowstar butted in,
"Heathersway, meet Tigertail. Tigertail, meet Heathersway. Speaking of Heathersway, are you alright? You don't look the best," Minnow thought about the task he set her. "Wait, did you find any prey? Did you catch a cough?" He suddenly felt worried. Perhaps that was why? It would make a lot of sense.
"No, Minnow. I've just been feeling down. It's been really cold back at camp." Tiger was about to speak, but Minnowstar noticed and knew that it would only make Heather more annoyed. "Well, nevermind that. What did you catch? I mean- food, not 'catch' as in catch a cough-"
"I know what you mean, Minnow. And for the food, I was actually very lucky! No- insanely lucky. I caught two mice, which is definitely enough for us all to share. I mean- I don't think I'd catch two pieces of food normally, let alone in Leaf-Bare!" Although she seemed harsh just before, Heathersway had already began to act like her normal self. Minnowstar thought that 'storm' as a suffix might've suited her better, seeing as she can change attitudes in an instant. Minnow didn't want to upset Heather, though, and he doubted she would like a name based around her 'easily-frustrated-ness', and he wouldn't either.

One moon later...

Tigertail had already settled into the camp. Her first impression of Heather wasn't the best, but Tiger looked past it and focused on Heathersway's usual personality.

Minnow, though, was off to the moonpool again. He hadn't really thought about which rank he wanted the cat to be, so he just decided on warrior. He didn't want to ask for a deputy, and he probably never will, for that's a decision Minnow had to make on his own. He had to be the one who chose who would be the next leader. He wanted to choose a cat that he knew could handle a clan.

On the other paw, Heathersway and Tigertail were on hunting patrol. Heather knew that she wouldn't get that lucky again, but still had her hopes up.

{Clan consumed 2 servings}
{Minnowstar asks StarClan for a warrior}
{Heathersway and Tigertail go hunting}

[kirkwood gaps]

Heathersway was quietly stalking a rabbit which she was excited that she found in the first place. Walking carefully she lowered herself so she could chase it. She needed to get a head start on this thing so she could catch it. Taking off the animal heard her and took off. Heathersway pushed her paws hard into the ground to get more traction as she came closer to the animal with every powerful push of her legs. Grabbing the animal hard by the next she stumbled, the rabbit still firm in her jaws as she wasn't going to loose such a valuable catch. She came to a stop and pinned the scrambling animal to the ground before killing it.
She walked with a proud strut as she approached Tigertail. Dropping the catch in front of her, she smiled. "Wheres your catch?" She questioned Tigertail with a smirk. Tigertail looked at her with an annoyed expression. "I didn't catch anything." The other she-cat mumbled. Heathersway hid her smirk and shrugged. "Maybe if you weren't so busy with herbs you would of caught yourself something." She said casually as she picked up her catch and started back to camp.

[Heathersway caught a rabbit, Tigertail was unsuccessful.]
[Starclan sent Minnowstar a warrior.]

As Heathersway strutted away with her catch, Tigertail grumbled. She thought they'd gone past this 'passive-aggressive' relationship.
"Apparently not," Tiger thought. She trodded through the thin layer of snow that would soon become fresh, green grass. "I have to be busy with herbs! What kind of medicine cat wouldn't be?" She sighed to herself. Tigertail would have to inform Minnowstar that they don't- can't work well together. He'd understand, right?

A little bit later, Heathersway and Tigertail were at camp. They saw Minnowstar laying down next to the Water Crater with another cat. When Minnow looked up, he saw Tigertail walking towards him, and smiled. Tigertail smiled back, before reaching the two toms.
"Hello, Tiger! Barknose, this is one of the cats I was telling you about. She's the medicine cat. Say, Tigertail, do you know where Heathersway is?"
"Yes, she's over there, putting the dead rabbit she caught in the Fresh-Kill Crater." Heathersway noticed the other cats looking over at her and came over to join the conversation, curious. When she got to them, Minnow beamed, while Tigertail just stared. She hadn't gotten over what happened this morning, Heathersway could tell. The new cat gave a small smile.
"So, who's this?" She gestured to the brown and white tom.
"I'm Barknose, nice to meet you all. I assume you're Heathersway..?"
"That's correct!" Heather mewed. She had definitely gotten off to a better start than when Tigertail arrived. She was liking him as a member of the clan already.

After a small conversation including the four cats, Tigertail told Minnowstar about hers and Heathersway's relationship in private. As expected, he understood. Minnowstar promised her that he would try not to make them do activities together, but once in a while he must, otherwise they'd never be able to get to know and like each other. Tigertail was okay with this. As long as Heather and Tiger weren't doing everything together, it was fine.

One moon later...

"Alright," Minnowstar began, "Barknose, you're on hunting duty with me. Heathersway, you can go on border patrol, for going to the moonpool every moon is pretty tiring, heh. Anyway, Tigertail, are you alright with keeping the clan safe? You can organise your herbs while you're at it." The two warriors and medicine cat nodded. Simple as that.

{Clan consumed 2 servings}
{Minnowstar and Barknose go hunting}
{Heathersway goes on a border patrol}
{Tigertail sorts her herbs}

[kirkwood gaps]

[Minnowstar and Barknose hunt a rabbit and mouse.]
[Heathersway find two warriors while on patrol.]

Barknose's ears swivelled round as he heard a scamper behind him, then a rustle of bushes. With a quick, but quiet, flick of his tail, he told Minnowstar that he was to catch this. By the recognisable scent, Barknose could easily tell that this was a rabbit he was dealing with. After seeing Barknose's gesture, Minnowstar nodded, and padded lightly away to find more prey. As Barknose waited for the rabbit to come out again, Minnow smelled a whiff of a small animal.

"Mouse," He thought to himself. "Fresh, too." Then he scented something. Old, he could tell, but still distinctive enough to know what it was. The scent of twolegs. He stepped back, his eyes slightly wider with shock. "A twoleg path!" How had he not seen or smelled this before?! He shook his head, bewildered. Minnowstar, when he first got here, had asked himself why no cat had taken up this territory. In a jolt of awareness, he noticed how in the open the camp was, and why no leader would want to set up their Clan here. The clan camp was mainly flat ground, with only a small, spaced out forest around it, ready for any creature — harmless or otherwise — to see them. Then a new scent flooded his nostrils. Minnow bowed his head until his nose touched the cream, almost sand-like twoleg path. He shuddered. It was fresh. After some more sniffing, he realised. Twolegs with dogs had came there recently!

His fluffy tail flicked nervously, then he remembered the mouse. Minnowstar took his nose off the dirty rocks, and with a silent sigh of relief, scented the mouse again. Minnow saw the brown creature, and stalked it. He watched it pause, and he took a deep breath. He pounced, bit it quickly to make sure it was dead, and picked it up with his mouth.

Barknose met up with Minnowstar again, and they flicked their tails at eachother as they held their catches in their mouths. They walked back to the camp with their prey.


On the next paw, Heathersway had found two — trembling — cats. One was a tom, a brown feline with dirty paws; the other a scraggly she-cat, with messy white fur and darker stripes running up her nose to the top of her eyes. Before Heather could speak, the tom meowed, his voice weak. "We come in peace, so there's no need to attack us." He started. "I could tell you weren't anyway, though, thank StarClan for that."
"Some other cats wouldn't hesitate to kill us," The snow-coloured molly murmured under her breath. She added, looking down, "In the horrible state we're in."
"We must speak to your leader," the tom hissed, not very angrily, though. Heathersway nodded. Even if these cats were to try and hurt her, or any of her clanmates, they could kill the thin cats with ease. As they padded back to the camp, Heathersway could tell that the pair were barely surviving. Their ribs showed through their short fur, and she almost felt bad for them.


Tigertail had been sleeping in the warm air when Minnowstar and Barknose returned. The two toms walked down the slope leading into the Fresh-Kill Crater — a small dug out hole where the CraterClan cats stored their caught prey. They dropped their food into the hole, and walked over to the low tree branch where Tigertail slept.
"Tigertail," Barknose meowed, prodding the snoring feline. She awoke with a start. Tigertail and Barknose then shared a small, friendly conversation.

Minnowstar was worried. He was shot with an understanding of something that hadn't came to him until now. It seemed very stupid that he hadn't thought about it before, he thought. There were no dens for the warriors, apprentices, or even elders! The current warriors had just slept where they liked —— if that carried on, as his clan filled up, the camp would be chaos.
"How come no cat had pestered me about this..?" Minnowstar shook his head. If they really were bothered about it, they would have. This moon he would try and set up three dens. He pondered about how big and where they would be as he looked for a place to announce news.

He soon noticed a small ledge coming out of the mountain that surrounded their camp. It wasn't very wide, but it'd do. Using the best of his climbing abilities, Minnow leaped up to the ledge. He cleared his throat, and began to announce,
"Cats of CraterClan, please gather around if y-"
"Minnowstar," Heathersway jogged towards the ledge. "These two cats I met on border patrol would like to speak with you."
"Of course," Minnowstar dipped his head toward the tom and molly in greeting. "Please follow me to my den." As they climbed up the moss path up the mountain, Minnow meowed, "So.. where are you from? What are your names?" the white she-cat answered,
"I'm Hailclaw, this is Harefoot," she gestured towards the tom with her tail. "We'll explain everything when we reach your den."

When they eventually got to the leader's den, Harefoot told Minnowstar that a cat called Squirreltail had attacked them, so they ran off. They spent two moons travelling, desperate to find shelter, and perhaps a new clan. Minnowstar was reminded once again while talking to them that he needed to find three spots for the apprentices', warriors' and elders' dens. Knowing that there weren't any more caves or ledges in the mountain, Minnowstar thought about digging holes in the ground. Tunnels, maybe.
"How would the roof stay up?" he thought. Minnowstar decided that he'd think about this after he announced the latest news.

"Cats of CraterClan, please gather around if you wish to hear my announcements," Minnowstar continued what he was going to say before Heathersway had shown him Harefoot and Hailclaw. As he watched Tigertail, then Barknose, then Heathersway, then Hailclaw and Harefoot gathered round the ledge, he began again. "I have two main things to get across. One is of less inportance, and I'll talk about that one first. While hunting, I came across a twoleg path. It was a dusty yellow, and when I sniffed it," he paused. "I smelt a dog's scent." the cats below him made small gasps, but stayed quiet. "I believe that twolegs have walked across this path with their tamed — probably vicious — dogs, and that these dogs will continue to walk across this path. Please, if you're hunting around that area," he glared at where he had hunted, which was to the North-East of where he was sitting. "Please be careful. I wouldn't want any of my clanmates getting hurt by them — the dogs or twolegs. Dogs' scents are quite recognisable, so you should be able to sniff them, but I'm sure you could probably hear them before you're even close to the path." the small crowd of cats flicked their tails in amusement. Except Hailclaw and Harefoot, that is — they were too weary with travel to be charmed by his joke.

"Now, onto the more important — and more tragic — news. Sadly, a clan called TumbleClan, ironically, has tumbled to its demise." Minnowstar's words were of a joke, but his eyes were serious, so no cat dared laugh or flick their tails. "Unfortunately, two cats were chased out by another feline. They have travelled for two moons, and are very tired, so please- whatever you do- show them respect. Their names are Harefoot and Hailclaw, and they have joined this clan, so please treat them like they are. They needn't have any more troubles on their mind."

One moon later...

Harefoot and Hailclaw had settled in well into the clan. Heathersway and Tigertail still exchanged aggressive glances from time to time, but there weren't many arguments between the two —— or even any cat for that matter. Minnow, with the help of the CraterClan cats, had helped dig small holes around the Water Crater. To Minnowstar's surprise, the cieling of the dens held up well naturally. The walls and floor of the warriors' den were covered in soft moss, while the other two stayed unfurnished. There was no point of putting moss in them for there weren't any apprentices or elders in the clan anyway.

Harefoot and Barknose became friends, for their personalities had lots of things in common, and they chatted well together; Heathersway and Hailclaw became friends also, for the same reasons Hare and Bark's friendship held.

Minnowstar jumped upon the ledge. Hailclaw and Harefoot were to remain in camp, so they could rest. He sent Tigertail herb hunting; Heathersway and Barknose on normal hunting; and Minnowstar himself was to visit the Moonpool.

{Clan consumed 2 servings}
{Minnowstar asks StarClan for a warrior}
{Heathersway and Barknose go hunting}
{Tigertail goes herb hunting}
{Harefoot and Hailclaw remain in camp}

[kirkwood gaps]

[Starclan granted you a warrior.]
[Heathersway and Barknose catch a blackbird and a mouse.]
[Tigertail collects two servings of honey.]

As Minnowstar woke up, he felt a sleek, soft pelt brush against his own, almost sending him to sleep again.
"Why, hello," a she-cat's voice echoed soothingly throughout the cave. "I believe you're Minnowstar, unless I'm mistaken..?"
"That's correct," Minnow nodded. "And who are you?" He looked up at the molly. Her tender green gaze made him shudder. Something was off about this pretty feline — he didn't know why, but he could feel it.
"My name is Eyeball," She paused. ...Do you want to know why I'm called that?" Minnow didn't answer, knowing it was a rhetorical question. She climbed up towards the cave entrance, and let the sun shine on her face.

A large scar stretched across from the whiskers on the top of her head to her left eye to the bottom of her jaw. Minnowstar stood there, amazed. From the colour, it looked quite fresh. Minnow wondered how that could've happened, and as if she had read his mind, she spoke.
"A group of dogs attacked my loner group. Huge ones, possibly three times bigger than you and I. One ran up to me, and before I could scramble away, he..." Her voice trailed off.
"I understand," He paused, remembering how he had scented a dog on the twoleg path a moon ago. "The loyal cats of CraterClan will be more than happy to accept you into our clan," — at least, he hoped they would.

As they walked back together, Minnowstar scented a foreign cat's smell coming from.. Eyeball's scar? It was very faint, but he could tell it was there. There wasn't a dog's scent at all. He shook his head — why would she lie to him? Curious, he asked, "Can you tell me more about the loner group you came from?"
"Of course," She sighed. "There were about five cats or so in it. The leader was called Amber. He was fierce and wouldn't hesitate to attack an intruder — innocent or not. There was also Ivory, an ex-kittpet with a good sense of smell. She also would help us understand twolegs with their weird language. The other three were called Grass, Water and Fire, who were rouges that had planned an attack on their clan leader…. . ." As she meowed, Minnowstar didn't doubt her coming from loner group. The thing that bugged him, though, was how there was no dog scent coming from her scar. It looked recent, so surely the scent would still be there? Of course Eyeball might've washed it, but how did he smell the cat scent then? "Too many questions," Minnow thought. "I'll try and figure them out in my den," as he thought this, he realised how much easier this would be if he had a deputy to discuss it with.



"Keep quiet," Barknose whispered to Heathersway. "I can smell prey, though I can't for the life of me figure out where it's coming from," He opened his mouth to taste the air. "It seems like it's coming from over ther—" Barknose realised Heathersway had wandered off. "Where are you going...?" He started to follow her, and as they got further into the forest, a strange noise started to become louder and louder. Heathersway cringed as she breathed in the stench coming from where the noise was.
"Cars," Heather hissed into Barknose's ear. Barknose lifted his eyebrow, in confusion. "Monsters, I mean." Heathersway corrected herself. "I was once a housecat. Anyway, are we going to see what a monster is doing in the forest? Surely it wouldn't be able to run between the trees — most monsters are quite wide, aren't they?"
"I can't say. I've only seen one or two in my lifetime, for there weren't many twoleg-places around the clan camp I used to stay in. Onto your other question, I don't see why not, but we have to be careful. Getting ran over by one of those things could kill a cat. I say we hide, just in case it sees us."
"Agreed."



Eventually, Minnowstar and Eyeball reached the camp. Eyeball had crawled into the warriors' den, and Minnowstar was in his own den, looking down at the camp. He was washing his paws and legs as he heard Barknose calling him.
"Come up here," Minnow shouted back. A few moments later, he heard scrabbling of paws and then the sound of a leap. Heathersway and Barknose walked into the small cave, exhausted from running.
"Me and Heathersway would like to tell you something."
"Of course, go ahead." Minnowstar nodded. Heather then began,
"When we were out hunting, I heard a noise. Curious, I tried to track it, so Barknose followed me. We thought it was a monster of some sort, but when we creeped up on it, it definitely wasn't. It had the same round paws, the horrid stench and deafening rumble, but it was incredibly thin widthways. And— you know how twolegs climb into the bellies of monsters? This twoleg was sat on top of it."
"Well, it looked like a twoleg. It had long legs, but it had a dark pelt and a dark creature was gripping its head. The twoleg didn't seem to mind that this other thing was latching onto its head, though." Minnowstar nodded again, taking in this new information, then asked,
"Where exactly did you find this thin monster?"
"It was running round the twoleg path you told us about," Heathersway answered.
"Thank you for telling me this. I will be sure to announce everything on the ledge." He flicked his tail, signaling the two cats to leave. They both nodded then leaped out of the cave.

One moon later...

The clan had been told of the thin monster, and Barknose had been announced deputy, which everyone congratulated him on. Eyeball had been renamed Dipperlull, and she seemed to fit nicely into the clan. Minnowstar also noticed Barknose talking to her a lot, with Heathersway joining in on the conversation sometimes. Tigertail was busy with herbs, but sometimes chatted to the others. Hailclaw and Harefoot were still taking their time getting used to the new clan and their clanmates, but all was well.

After a few weeks, Barknose and Dipperlull had announced they were mates now, and almost none of the clan were surprised. Barknose almost appeared to be out of character when he was with Dipper, always laughing their heads off and acting all lovey-dovey with eachother.

{Clan consumed 3 servings}
{Barknose is announced deputy}
{Barknose and Dipperlull go on a walk together}
{Heathersway, Barknose, Dipperlull, Minnowstar, Harefoot and Hailclaw go hunting}
{Tigertail goes herb hunting]

[kirkwood gaps]

[Barknose and Dipperlull are expecting kits.]
[On the hunting patrol they catch a blackbird, field mouse, and stoat.]
[Tigertail finds Celandine and Dandelion.]

{Clan consumed 3 servings}
{Heathersway, Barknose, Harefoot and Hailclaw go hunting}
{Tigertail goes herb hunting}
{Dipperlull is moved into the Nursery}