Initially, ShadowClan was kind of put off when she started showing up to hang out with Rowanclaw, but as she mingled with the rest of the Clan more, they got to like her. By the time she asked to join (after she helped bring ThunderClan to their rescue), a good portion of them had befriended her and were more than happy to let her in.
For multiple reasons. As Deux has said to me before, who wouldn’t want the cat equivalent of a furnace in your Clan full of tiny, short-haired cats?
In the books (Specifically mentioned in the Ultimate Guide, and in that one short play), Breezepelt is older than the three, suggesting he and Nightcloud.. uh.. 'got it on' before he ran off with Leafpool. Will this change at all?
Oooo I'd love to hear that story about the ring of queens if you find it! No pressure though of course! :)
The story was actually about a leader and queen trying to peacefully confront a loner who had just given birth, but I can give specifics on the situation you’re talking about!
Right at the end of a very harsh winter, the leader of ThunderClan (and no one remembers his name) was desperate for new members of the nursery. Most of the queens of the previous season had lost their little ones to various causes, and the current queens were still in the early days of pregnancy. Everyone was a little nervous, especially since the Clan’s numbers had decreased some over the colder seasons. Everyone just wanted some babies to be born and raised into apprentices, and soon.
By chance, a warrior came in and reported a heavily pregnant loner wandering around in the undergrowth, looking stressed and in pain. She had lashed out at the warrior when he approached her, so everyone figured that she was about to give birth. Immediately, the leader grabbed one of the older queens that occasionally helped out in the nursery (her name in stories goes between Elmflower and Dustflower; some just call her Flower for simplicity) and went straight out to where the warrior had left the loner. In that time, she’d had a couple kits.
The leader made it very clear to the queen that he wanted those kits in the nursery pronto. They’d figure out the specifics later, but that loner needed to get back to camp with them.
The queen was skilled with handling nervous mothers, and through a peaceful introduction, sitting a distance away while purring, and soothingly talking about various subjects, she earned the trust of the loner. The loner explained that she had left her little alleyway because she knew the territories were perfectly safe to from outside toms, and she meant to leave once she had rested and was able to carry the kits home. The queen quickly assured her that she could take as much time as she needed, so long as she came to the camp and rested up there. The loner was worried, but she felt it best to comply for now, so the three adults carried the kits home.
As expected, the mothers, young and old, were all very gracious to the loner, giving her plenty of prey and space until she was comfortable enough to be in the company of strangers. The leader was psyched - here’s these new kittens, right when he needed them! He was determined to keep them there, even if the mother wanted to leave.
A couple days passed, during which someone checked out the loner’s alleyway, and pronounced it safe. The loner was ready to take her kits and leave. She expressed gratefulness to everyone, and even though the Clan was sad to see her go (she was apparently very charming), almost all of them respected her wishes.
Except for the leader, his deputy and a few senior warriors.
The loner and the leader argued back and forth when she started to take her kits out. He accused her of selfishness, she retorted that she hadn’t asked to be brought here, and the warriors supporting him demanded that she leave her litter with them. She’d already eaten their prey and taken up their space! How dare she just steal those kittens!
The leader then said something to the effect of “you can either stay here or go, but either way the kits remain, and if you try to leave with them, it’s not going to end well for you”.
At this, the queens in the nursery, the former mothers, and those who had spent time getting to know the loner retaliated by forming a circle around the loner, picking up her kits, and escorting her right out of camp. It was in total unity, led by Flower herself.
The leader tried very hard to get his Clan to stop them, but everyone knows you don’t fuck with any queen ever, especially not a determined one who just defied her leader. They let them go, the leader spluttering about punishments and betrayal to no avail. The gang of moms marched to the town, all the way to the loner’s specific nest in her alley, and kept her company until they found a friend of the loner to watch over her and make sure no one messed with the little family.
The leader’s popularity tanked after that. No one even bothered to follow his declarations of punishment.
Will TNP focus a bit more on the sibling relationships between the two sets of siblings in the main group?
HOPEFULLY. I think I mentioned before that I’m an only child, so I’m a little bit worried about writing as many sibling interactions as this whole series will have. Luckily, all of my friends have siblings, so I hope they can give m a few pointers.
I plan on highlighting the sibling relationships more, we’ll have to see if it comes to fruition.
Have you seen the new 'The Five Giants' Warriors animation project? I know it's not really your thing, but it's a nice tribute to 15 years of warriors and definitely worth a look at!
I haven’t heard of this before, but holy shit is it well done!
