The PRIDE Warrior Cats project of the day is "Back in the Subaru" by ursiday! This PMV is a bit different than my other pride picks, because it's about how Crowfeather's girlfriends always end up becoming lesbians (as Feathertail, Leafpool, and Nightcloud are often headcanoned as sapphic and shipped with she-cats within the fandom). It's comedic and lighthearted but the art is beautiful and there are some really cute ships in here!
i still think it should have been like. ashfur and brambleclaw were friends as apprentices - ashpaw was always showing him around, teaching him some more advanced apprentice things, talking all day every day and sleeping in the nest next to one another - until brindleface dies. and when bramblepaw goes to comfort his friend, walks across camp to tell him how sorry he is - ashpaw just. stares. at him until he walks away. and bramblepaw is like....well he's grieving, i need to give him space. i get it.
but it keeps happening. ashpaw wont talk to him anymore, barely looks at him. moves to the other side of the apprentices den and starts spending more time with thornpaw. and deep down, even as an apprentice - bramblepaw knows its because of tigerstar, even if firestar and his mother tell him it's not, that ashpaw is just in pain right now. fernpaw is still his friend, after all. but ashpaw is never as close to him anymore. and then they become warriors, and ashfur only exchanges a few words here and there with him, but it's never the same as it was. sorrelpaw and brightheart and others will be like "hey, what happened to you guys?" and brambleclaw knows the answer - he kinda thinks everyone does - but he just will shrug and say "i guess we just grew apart. it happens sometimes."
and the thing is - ashfur knows that it's not technically right to feel this way, that brambleclaw didnt actually do anything. but hes so angry, knowing what happened to his mother. how she died. how brambleclaw's father did that to her and everyone just goes on with life like brindleface wasnt even there. he just cant stop being angry, even if it's not a burning sort of rage anymore, more dull - he still just doesnt want to have anything to do with brambleclaw.
and then hawkfrost and mothwing suddenly are there, and ashfur gets this weird feeling when he sees hawkfrost at gatherings, sees how close he and brambleclaw are. he knows that squirrelflight and brambleclaw are friends - or something, who knows - and he casually just mentions it, just to see if she thinks its weird too. squirrelflight is so outspoken, after all - and bam, she thinks the exact same thing. she thinks hawkfrost is a little much, that there's something not quite right with him. that nothing good could come out of being close with him, and ashfur feels oddly seen. they start talking and hanging out more, squirrelflight doesnt want anything to do with brambleclaw either, and like-
bam. suddenly squirrelflight is on brambleclaw's side again. suddenly they're talking again and ashfur just cant stand it. it feels like hes the only one who sees that there's something wrong with brambleclaw, that brambleclaw is power hungry. that hes manipulative and that he's not safe to be around, but squirrelflight wont hear it. shes almost disgusted, really.
so he sets brambleclaw up - he uses hawkfrost, thinking it's kinda two birds with one stone - he was right about both of them, he thinks as hawkfrost all too eagerly decides to trap firestar in the foxtrap. and ashfur lingers behind just to see, just for proof, and he sees it: he sees brambleclaw hesitate. he sees the way brambleclaw's eyes flicker to the foxtrap, how he freezes up. he thought about doing it, about killing firestar.
and having ashfur be so self-righteous and feeling vindicated about it, and THATS why he hates brambleclaw/squirrelflight so much....i dunno man.
I really don’t think any other storyline in all of wc has ever been as uniquely gut wrenching and hard hitting and squirrelstar and leafpool. it’s so difficult to put into words and if you don’t get it you don’t get it but they were sisters. do you understand. they were sisters and one day they were so full of life and love. they felt each other’s love and pain and grief and happiness and they would do anything for each other. squirrelflight gave up everything for leafpool she prioritized her sister over her clan her code her mate everything. and when it all came crashing down they still had each other. they always had each other. do you understand that. and then one day leafpool died. when they were children they promised each other squirrelpaw would be leader and leafpaw would be by her side as her medicine cat and they’d lead the clan together and then leafpool dies and squirrelflight goes through both actual fucking heaven and hell and she is made leader and she never gets her sister back. she was the other half of her soul. who else if not her. who can grow her a new sister. and so on. do you understand
this idea popped into my head and WOULD NOT let me go
riverclan seldom speaks about mothwing's littermate; when willowkit had asked what happened to hawkfrost, mosspelt's expression grew distant as she murmured, "it's best that we don't speak about hawkfrost anymore, love."
willowpaw tries to heed her mother's advice, especially once she became mothwing's apprentice - but it's not until one warm morning, right as the sun begins to rise over the distant pine trees that signify shadowclan's territory, that a memory of a morning much like this begins to pop into willowpaw's mind before she can stop herself.
she pauses, losing track of the herb she was counting; she tries to clear her mind and start back up again, but her mentor - ever perceptive, always watchful - notices.
"what's wrong?"
"i just remembered something," willowpaw mumbles, hoping that will discourage the molly.
but mothwing is still watching, waiting; the golden tabby is oddly persistent when she wants to be, and there's still so much about mothwing that willowpaw does not know, that feels so unaccessible to her. they live together now: the bond between medicine cat and their apprentice is so much stronger than a warriors. while a warrior apprentice will get their adult name and leave their mentors side, willowpaw will remain with mothwing, constantly learning and seeking guidance from her, up until one of their death's.
willowpaw knows she shouldn't say anything. but she also knows that if she doesn't say anything now, she never will, and so, with a deep breath, willowpaw looks at her mentor and goes, "i was just remembering how...back when i was a kit, the very first time i learned how to fish."
mothwing blinks at her, head tilting slowly to one side.
willowpaw remembers the morning well: it was moons ago. she'd been pestering mosspelt with what seemed like an infinite amount of questions, and as her mother had grown more and more exhausted with her only kit, a passing warrior had poked his head into the nursery, taken one look at the mother and daughter and said, "i could take her out for a little bit, mosspelt. just across camp."
"oh, would you, hawkfrost?" mosspelt sighed in relief. "thank you."
willowkit hadn't needed to be told twice, especially since it was hawkfrost asking her to follow him. she'd been fascinated with the warrior for as long as she could remember - he was their medicine cat's only littermate, and was just as interesting as his sister.
willowkit had an odd fantasy that, if she didn't want to become a medicine cat so desperately, she'd love to have him for a mentor.
"how about i teach you how to fish?" hawkfrost laughed when willowkit squeaked in glee, twitching his whiskers as she dashed in little circles at his side.
"would you? would you, would you?"
at her chatter, hawkfrost had started to look like he begun to regret his offer, so willowkit made a show of putting a paw on her muzzle, laughing behind her fur when he dramatically sighed in relief.
"even if you're interested in being a medicine cat," hawkfrost murmured, leading her to one of the streams that cut through their camp. little minnows and other small fish came to this stream every now and then; it wasn't of any interest to full-grown warriors and apprentices, but for kits, a minnow was as good a snack as any. "but every riverclan kit needs to learn how to fish."
willowkit nodded enthusiastically, sitting next to the tomcat and watching with rapt attention as he began to explain the first steps, how to make sure not to let your shadow fall over the water. the best time to strike.
willowkit did not get it on the first few tries, but after hawkfrost splashed downstream and drove a minnow right into her waiting paws, she pulled the little fish out into the grass and squeaked in surprise, grinning up at the tabby.
"i did it!"
"thank starclan," hawkfrost drawled, but willowkit could see the humor glimmering in his eyes behind the faux-annoyance. the tom watched her take a few bites of the fish, twitching his ear as he asked, "so. you want to be mothwing's apprentice, right?"
"mm-hmm," willowkit hummed through a mouthful, swallowing. "yep. i can't wait."
"i bet," hawkfrost watched her eat for a moment, flicking his tail over her ears and nodding back to the nursery. "come on, show your mother your catch."
willowkit nodded, grinning up at the tomcat. "thank you so much, hawkfrost!"
willowpaw blinks, clearing the memory. her mentor is still watching, waiting, and there's a look in mothwing's eyes that lets her know that she does not need to say who taught her, that there will be a day - in the future, most likely - where willowpaw will get the answers she so desperately craves.
"you're a good fisher," is all mothwing says, and then, so quietly that perhaps she did not intend for willowpaw to hear, adds, "he must've been a good teacher."
the climax of tnp in my world. brambleclaws loyalty is not brought into question at all; he adamantly rejects his father and once he finds out hawkfrost's dedication to him, cuts ties (although he is very sad to do so).
instead, the morality question is posed to leafpool, who is in love with hawkfrost rather than crowfeather. it's not fair that she's in a position—aone occupied most often by mollies!—that is punished for having kittens, for even falling in love. why would starclan punish those who are most faithful? why would starclan deprive an entire clan of healing just because one cat falls in love? and how is it fair that the act of healing is predicated on faith when a very talented healer like mothwing is right there? her faith in starclan is already shaken by all of this, by her friend mothwing's question of their power and mere existence.... and hawkfrost takes advantage of this, convinces mothwing to try and shake leafpool's faith even more so he can sidle in without having to compete with starclan for leafpool, who at this point already has feelings for him. but his insecurity forces him to create roadblocks so leafpool CANT leave him.
so one day he proposes that she run away. that he's going to be leader soon, and riverclan already has a healer, so she can just be his mate, and they can raise a family. she can even help mothwing if she wants to! leafpool indulges this fantasy, runs away for a day with hawkfrost, not realizing how serious he is. he tells her they're going back to riverclan together. he gets angry when she hesitates. "you're not even leader yet," leafpool says as an excuse. they part and don't speak for nearly a week.
hawkfrost tells her to meet him at the moonpool. it's leopardstar caught in the fox trap. hawkfrost is showing leafpool his devotion to her, to their future together. it's leafpool that drives the stake into his throat.
after coming to, leopardstar accuses leafpool of murdering her deputy, but everyone else can see the reality leopardstar's fondness for hawkfrost is clouding. the trauma of the event and her vehemence that hawkfrost was an innocent victim despite all the evidence and everyone else's explanations to the contrary kickstarts leopardstar's mental decline.
no one believes leafpool murdered hawkfrost even though she obviously killed him. no one asks why she was even in the situation to begin with, because everyone is honestly just so relieved to finally be rid of hawkfrost. leafpool isn't relieved. leafpool wishes everyone hated her for it. leafpool wishes everyone knew she was in love with him, that she would have stayed with him forever if only things went differently.
its only a few days later that leafpool feels a kick.
(ID in alt text) Onestar! I really like this guy and I’m on team “his change in character made a lot of sense, actually”. Currently reading AVOS for the first time and enjoying it so this felt like a natural guy to draw :) —Mossfreak
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
jbbartram-illu
dededos
annaxmalina
