first came the drought. with the creek sucked dry, the forest floor cracked as old rocks, and the sun a scourging heat — the animals fled. we should've too, but we clan cats are stubborn.
then there was the fire. the brittle trees provided easy kindling, and we were already weak from little food and water. our numbers burned lower once more.
we prayed that would be the end. "may starclan put dew on the grass and mice in our mouths," was our fervent mantra. but, our plea went unheard.
i suppose a spirit misheard our prayer; next was the flood. we had water, but it came with more deaths. the drowned were as terrible as those who withered away and burned.
we were few now, and spirits were crushed beyond belief. some decided the clan life wasn't for them after all. too much grief, pain, death — so they left. kittypets, loners, and the like.
but this isn't their story. this is the story of the survivors of heatherclan, the ones who rebuilt their life and legacy.
chronological reading order + founder intros (read on web browser)
reference sheets! they're mostly for me to get a feel of the cats & differences when i draw them but i hope others enjoy these :)
i'm going in order of id numbers, so cloverfrond is first! there's not a lot i can do with her pelt, so i made her a more long and lanky cat, especially in the ears. also including her colour palette!
other cats, especially tabbies like yewpaw, will have both their sides shown, but clover is... very plain (affectionate)
suns was covering for cricket on something in moon two, yeah? well get your guesses in for what it was bc it's plot-relevant and comes into play next moon!
i'm not my laptop so idk what kind of tabby suns is & his current sprite doesn't show it very well. also i'm really tempted to edit the save file to give him long fur bc that's how i imagine him
Dapplekit became an apprentice with Leafstar as his mentor!
Sunscratch, Sagebranch, and Quailflip took a sunbath and talked together. It settled Sagebranch and made her happy, but Sunscratch ignored Quailflip afterwards. She didn’t understand what she did wrong — surely her runny nose wasn’t that terrible. The truth is, Sunscratch just isn’t that social. He likes Sagebranch and Quailflip from a distance, but they’re too energetic for him to want to be around too much.
Sagebranch likes Leafstar, believe her, but when Leafstar took her favourite bedding, well. Leafstar didn’t do it on purpose, right? Spoiler alert: she totally did it on purpose.
Deerpaw finally checked on his brother, but Yewkit didn’t even notice. Then, he and Quailflip had a fight. To make matters worse, the moon in general been wearing on him to the point that he let Sagebranch down. At the end of the moon, it took all their power, but Sagebranch, Deerpaw, and Cricketrise managed to catch one (1) bird . . . it lifted Deerpaw’s spirits, at least.
Sagebranch and Mousepaw talked, and Mousepaw unexpectedly enjoyed himself. Later, she checked in on Quailflip again, this time offering to groom a hard-to-reach place for her.
Cricketrise thought Sagebranch was so cool fighting the other day.
Dapplepaw wasn’t trying to be malicious when he took all of Leafstar’s nesting materials. The prank was supposed to be in good fun . . .
Yewkit wanted to practice playfighting, and thinking that Deerpaw was still ignoring him, challenged Mousepaw to spar with him.
SkipClan kits were found on the border, but Cloverfrond, Leafstar, and Dapplepaw safely returned them.
Sunscratch: hey let’s train
Mousepaw: yay! . . . when are we starting?
Sunscratch: what? can’t ya teach yerself?
Mousepaw: . . .
It’s late newleaf, and HeatherClan’s survivors are thankful to have found a new home in not even a moon’s worth of time. They don’t take long to settle into their territory, building up a new camp and marking borders.
While marking the borders, a patrol of Sagebranch, Deerpaw, and Cloverfrond caught the scent of a neighbouring Clan (SkipClan). It seems like the other Clan was — rather rudely — checking out the newcomers.
Later, Leafstar, Sunscratch, Mousepaw, and Cricketrise found a swift fox eating a large carcass. They scared it off easily enough and brought some intestine back to camp.
warrior app. deerpaw and both his littermates survived the fire, but rabbitpaw succumbed to their wounds soon after. after the flood, rosepaw decided enough was enough; she was one of the cats who found twolegs. and so, deerpaw was the only one left of his family. he could not abandon his clan, even to be with his only remaining family, but even so, he felt incredibly lonely. despite that, deerpaw is always encouraging others to cherish what they have and make peace, seeking to preserve relationships where he can. even then, he struggles to maintain a relationship with his own younger brother because yewkit reminds him too much of before.
relationships //
he likes dapplekit, sagebranch, and leafstar
but doesn't care much for his own brother smh
mousepaw
cunning, quick witted
warrior app. before the disasters, mousepaw was your average friendly apprentice. he bantered easily with the warriors; they appreciated his wit. then the drought, fire, and floods came and washed away some of his cheerfulness. now, he's cunning, a bit colder, and his wit is often sharper than it used to be.
relationships //
he somewhat likes cricketrise, quailflip, and leafstar
despite his mentor liking him, mousepaw doesn't reciprocate it; he barely respects sunscratch and thinks he has a stick up his ass
dapplekit
troublesome, morbid curiosity
kit. dapplekit was born to quailflip after the fire, and he doesn’t entirely remember the flood. but he remembers enough that he still has nightmares and asks painfully probing questions like "did it hurt when bristleflower drowned in the water?"
relationships //
quite fond of sagebranch, mousepaw, leafstar
he's even very fond of sunscratch!
but barely likes quailflip? but finds comfort in her
yewkit
bullying, moss-ball hunter
kit. he does not remember the disasters; he was barely a moon old when the flood came. he was the only one of his family to survive other than deerpaw, and even then he barely made it. it’s only thanks to sagebranch and quailflip that lived. the rest of his remembered life was spent constantly on the move; he felt very unsettled and took it out on those around him. the clan settled somewhere when he was four moons old, fortunately. hopefully he'll relax.
relationships //
he does not have a lot of strong bonds
not even great friends with dapplekit or his own brother
but he likes cloverfrond and quailflip
and that's a wrap, folks! next is moon zero, then let the fun begin :)
warrior. he was a bit of a mal-tempered warrior before, but he grew even more sour when the weather started turning. then the disasters happened, his mate died in the fire, and well — he did not have a good time. he was not happy that his son’s warrior ceremony was used as a prop, but cricketrise was happy to bring hope to the clan in some way. they had a major disagreement about that, although it was nowhere near their only argument; there’s a reason they hold forced neutrality at best with each other. despite his temperament, sunscratch was given mousepaw as an apprentice and he seems to like the young cat, strangely enough.
relationships //
loves his deceased mate (dusknose) obvs
is comforted by cricketrise, but he doesn't like him. like, at all.
he likes yewkit and quailflip
good that he likes and respects his apprentice, at least
cloverfrond
loyal, good storyteller
warrior. she had no intention of abandoning her clan in difficult times, unlike other cats she could name. she's loyal to her clan and ideals to the point of having a hard time accepting anything outside heatherclan. loyalty is both her strength and her flaw. cloverfrond followed leafstar and the heatherclan remnants in trust that they would find somewhere and settle. she knew they could grow again — and she was right.
relationships //
there's no one she doesn't like
cricketrise is her favourite though
followed by quailflip and dapplekit
cricketrise
childish, great hunter
warrior. he was an apprentice when the forest fire happened, and it was in the fire that he lost his mother, dusknose. after the fire, he was given his warrior name early to encourage the clan. his hunting allowed him to scrape by for the ceremony, even though he was neither mature not battle-capable enough yet. even though the flood happened not long after, ruining the clan further, cricketrise took it on himself to fulfill his ceremony’s purpose. until the clan found its new home, cricketrise tried to keep spirits up and eyes forward. even now, he will continue to do so.
relationships //
he likes quailflip and leafstar
he finds comfort and some trust in his father, but doesn't particularly like him
leader. a molly formerly known as leafdrift, she wants heatherclan to be back to its thriving glory. she naturally and unofficially took on the leadership position when the clan started falling apart after the flood, and it surprised no one when she took on the official role in their new home.
relationships //
oddly enough, she doesn’t like sagebranch; she’s even a bit jealous.
she likes everyone else well enough
except she barely likes deerpaw
and sunscratch has earned more of her respect, comfort, and a bit of trust than anything
sagebranch
charismatic, impressive climber
deputy. sagebranch was barely in the elders’ den when the flood hit. it was only because of her strong climbing skills that cloverfrond, yewkit, quailflip, and sunscratch survived — now she’s one of the most respected cats in the clan. she supported leafdrift during the wandering, and ultimately decided to come out of retirement to be deputy until another cat was ready. despite leafdrift’s dislike, she is a wonderful deputy.
relationships //
she likes leafstar, funnily enough. maybe leaf is good at hiding her dislike.
she feels v comfortable around the cats she saved from the flood
in fact, she doesn’t dislike anyone. yay for sage!
including her apprentice (deerpaw)
quailflip
charismatic, unshakable starclan link
med cat. it’s a spirits-given gift that quailflip survived the disasters; she was the only medicine cat heatherclan had. throughout everything, she was the glue holding everyone together even with the birth of her own kit, dapplekit.
relationships //
she’s fonder of cricketrise more than she is of her own kit. honestly he’s her favourite in the clan.
maybe dapplekit brings up traumatic memories and quailflip doesn’t want to deal?
